The replacement captain: Ichigo Kurosaki
by Kreion
Summary: Two years post-winter war, Ichigo Kurosaki finally recovers his lost powers as a shinigami, however the return of his powers does not go unnoticed by the soul-society. Adventure and fluff a plenty! Ichiruki main, others as and when.
1. Wakey Wakey

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

_(A/N) This will be my first Bleach fic, the possibilities where to great for me to resist trying my hand at one I'm afraid. This will be set post-winter war, and will also have heavy ichiruki, so I hope you enjoy it!_

_And I know this is hardly an original or new idea, but there are so many possibilities post-winter war and involving Ichigo in the soul-society that I don't see a problem with doing it. :)_

_**Arc One - Welcome to the seireitei **_

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><p>Two years.<p>

Two years had passed since the defeat of Aizen, by the substitute shinigami: Ichigo Kurosaki. After the battle things returned to much the way they where before hand; the soul society started to rebuild and work without the looming threat of Aizen and the Arrancar. Meanwhile the human world continued on blissfully unaware of the forces at play all around them.

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><p><em>Water slowed his movement as he dodged the familiar blade that was swung at him. Feet struggled for purchase on the glass windows beneath and with a cry he swung a copy of the sword round to meet the next attack.<em>

The twin blades connected with a sound that echoed through out the sunken city; both rattled against the other as they fought to break their masters.

"What you want to protect, Ichigo, is not what I want to protect..." The speaker looked into the eyes of his orange haired opponent and stepped forward, pushing the boy back.

"The hell are you on about, ossan?" His only response was for the blade to be sent towards him again.

Ichigo bought his black blade round and jumped out of the path of the attack, holding his sword with both hands as he landed and took a defensive stance.

"Tell me, Zangetsu! Teach me the Final Getsuga Tensho" Zangetsu stood in his new, half-hollow form and simply looked at him before replying.

"No, I will keep knocking you down until you realise it is futile." Ichigo just smirked back at him and leapt towards him.

"Well, I will always get up. I will not fail now."

Their blades continued to cross until the two stood at a stand-off, high above the slanted city of Ichigo's inner world. Ichigo panted heavily as he looked at his mentor: the reason for his power, which now stood between him and peace.

'Why wont he teach me. Dammit, everyone's counting on me, I can't fail!' Zangetsu looked at him with the same cool stare that he usually had, one eye obscures by the horned mask that covered the left side of his head.

"You are persistent, but I will not teach you what you desire. I cannot." In that moment Ichigo knew, and as Zangetsu charged at him to run him through, he could only stand there as realization flooded his brain.

There was no pain when the blade entered his chest. Zangetsu was right up against him, looking down rather than face the boy in whose soul he resided. Ichigo could only shudder slightly as a cold feeling penetrated his skin and spread around from where the Zangetsu had pierced him.

"I said I did not want to protect what you wanted..." Zangetsu started, his voice catching slightly as he spoke. "...I do not, Ichigo, I want to protect you!" His voice rose for the last part, and he raised his head to look at Ichigo.

Tears where running down his face as he stared into the eyes of his partner for what would be the last time, before, in one swift motion, he removed the blade and turned away from him.

"W-what do you mean, Zangetsu?" Ichigo choked out towards the back of the spirit.

Zangetsu turned his head slightly, tear marks sill visible on his face as he looked at him.

"My meaning and how to achieve what you desire was transferred through my blade. Once you use the Final Getsuga, you will lose all your powers and forgo your role as a shinigami." He turned his head and started to walk away from Ichigo. He already knew what decision would be made, he knew the outcome, and the results.

"Farewell." Suddenly Ichigo was plunged into darkness as he was drawn back to the real world, and the fight to determined the future of the soul-society.

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><p>Ichigo shot up in his bed, sweat rolling down him in the darkness. Looking around he saw his darkened room and lay back down, rubbing his eyes and putting his hands behind his head. The dreams never stopped, even after he lost his powers, every now and again his mind reminded him of all that he had lost.<p>

"Normal life now, just like I wanted." He said to the darkness, in a bitter tone.

He had said that to his friends, to Rukia before he lost them. That this was what he wanted, and he was okay with living a normal life without his powers.

He had lied.

As the days passed he began to feel even more powerless than ever before. He could no longer even see spirits, but was surrounded by those that could, his friends and family; his father was even a fully fledged shinigami.

He couldn't help, all he could do was watch as his friends went out to battle with the monsters that where once men. _Helpless. Weak. Useless_. The thoughts echoed in his head, and ever so slowly he began to slide into depression.

It was not a noticeable thing really, no crying or moaning about how unfair the world was. He had seen enough to know that it wasn't fair. No, he simply stopped caring. He stopped working to try and get anywhere, and slowly the fire in his eyes flickered and died beneath his own depression.

His friends had tried to speak to him sometimes; asked him if anything was wrong, or if they could do something to help him. But there was nothing wrong, and nothing to do about it to him: he was simply adjusting to normal life.

And it was killing him.

* * *

><p>"Hey, you want to come out to the arcade later Ichigo?" He turned at the voice, and saw Keigo and his other friends standing behind him.<p>

"Nah, I've got things to do." That was all he offered for an excuse before walking away from the group.

"O-oh, all right then, see you tomorrow, Ichigo..." the voice trailed of as he got further away and stopped paying attention to it.

The truth was that he had nothing planned as always, but he didn't feel like going out. Something seemed so tedious about having to go and play a bunch of games and waste time standing about at the moment.

It wasn't the only thing that he was putting off though: he had still not decided on a collage to study at, or what he wanted to do for a job. He supposed that he would go and study medicine like his father and continue the business or work in a hospital. Even then he couldn't bring himself to be excited over the prospect and had barely started his application.

A black butterfly caused him to stop in his tracks and watch it as it flew about the flowers. A pang of longing echoes within him as he compared it to a hell butterfly; they where so similar and yet so different.

His thoughts turned to the soul society and his ever-present scowl depend just a bit.

Nothing.

He had not had any contact with them since he lost his powers and was condemned to his life as a human for saving them. Not even Rukia had sneaked a visit in a gigai, and somehow that made the feeling of betrayal that much more profound.

'_They could at least have sent a thank you card' _He thought humourlessly, before he turned to walk down an alleyway: taking a short-cut to his house.

As he got to the end he felt something odd, something trailed down his back. Turning round and raising a fist he prepared to stop whatever it was, by force if necessary.

But there was nothing, just an empty alley behind him. Walking forward slightly he kicked a can down the path to vent his frustrations on whatever had managed to touch his back and get away so quickly.

However, the can met resistance mid-air and stopped, floating, in the middle of the ally.

"What the hell..." He started before he was suddenly lifted of the ground and crushed against a wall. His legs dangled uselessly and he felt something holding him by his neck against the rough bricks of the wall.

Ichigo flailed around with his arms until he felt both slammed against the wall and he cried out in pain.  
>Realisation finally made it though his shock-addled and oxygen deprived brain as he started to feel the thing clutch around his neck. He could only widen his eyes and stare, at the empty space in front of him, fear worming its way into his mind.<p>

"H-hollow. Damn-" That was all he could make out before the hollow proceeded with it's plan of choking the life out of him and he could only think of how ironic it was that this was how he met his end, at the hands of some lowly hollow in an ally.

As he started to fade out of consciousness something familiar seemed to gnaw at the edges of his dying brain. Something insistent and unyielding, something raging to find a way out. To take control.

_'Hello, King.'_Was all he heard before he was thrown into darkness, and not for the first time in his life, found himself falling through it.

"So, is this dying?" He thought out loud, it sure seemed like it, he having had the pleasure of the sensation when he fought the fourth espada: Ulquiorra Cifer. "At the hands of a hollow after all the, just great.."

He was bout out of his thoughts by a sudden influx of speed and a sudden pain in his back. Opening his eyes, he looked around and was shocked at the surroundings.

Though the skyscrapers where now slums and the sky was overcast, there was no mistaking it. It was his inner world.

"Welcome back, it seems my farewell was premature." Ichigo scrambled to his feet and turned, wildly looking for the sound of the voice. At last his eyes found it, and all he could do was stare at the sight which he had longed for.

On a pole stood Zangetsu: his sword and his teacher. His black cloak flowing in the stiff wind and his now younger face looking down on him with a mix of amusement and seriousness. Ichigo took a few steps towards him before stopping and shouting out at him.

"What is going on! You said I would never recover my powers. Yet you've been here all along!" Zangetsu hopped off his pole and walked up to him, his face serious until he stood directly in front of him, where he surprised Ichigo by giving a small but rare smile.

"Indeed that was what I believed, because I merged completely with you, and gave you everything; which you then used to defeat Aizen. However, it seems something, or rather should I say somebody was not willing to leave you, or I think is more likely, couldn't leave you."

It took Ichigo a few seconds before he came up with the answer, and when he did he could only blink in surprised and question Zangetsu further. "My hollow?"

"Yes." Ichigo scowled at the one word response.

"But how! You fused with him before you fused with me, I took all his powers as well." Zangetsu gave another small smile and looked Ichigo in the eye before responding.

"Yes, the powers of the three parts of your soul used in unity, that is what we achieved in the end. However, we are exactly that Ichigo, parts of your soul, we cannot be destroyed. Just like a pane of glass we must all stay to ensure that the glass does not shatter." Ichigo growled in irritation; he had never much cared for metaphors to help explains stuff like this, it never seemed to help that much.

'_At least it's better than Ruikia's drawings'_He was brought out of his thoughts by Zangetsu motioning to the buildings and waste that lay around him.

"Can you see Ichigo? Look what has happened in our absence, you have slipped into depression because you felt your once complete soul was broken." He held up a hand when he saw Ichigo was about to interrupt him here. "You may not have thought you have, or may argue with the reason, but this is the truth of the matter."

Ichigo couldn't argue back because the immutable proof lay around him, the ugliness of his soul in his current state was repulsing him and he looked back at Zangetsu, his eyes almost pleading now.

"But how did you wake up then? Why now." Zangetsu sighed this time before answering.

"I could not regain your attention because your natural shinigami spirit pressure remained hidden from you since it had been spent and the link to you sealed until death." He stopped for a second for Ichigo to process this before moving on. " This is why I didn't want to teach you my final technique, I never expected to see you again, even after death it seemed unlikely, but I had not counted on your hollow." Ichigo started and took another step forward, finally being told why he was back here now.

"You see, he was sent into a sleep since there was nothing to keep him awake now, no power for him to act as a catalyst for his own, however, that changed today." He looked directly at Ichigo, who could only stutter at the gaze.

"T-today? Because I almost died right?" Zangetsu shook his head to the side before correcting him.

"No, you could die and he would stay asleep as always, however if you introduce hollow reiatsu to your inner hollow..." Ichigo's eyes widened and he finished of the sentence.

"That acted as the catalyst to bring him back." Zangetsu nodded, then walked towards him putting a hand on his shoulder and looking deep into his eyes.

"Now your soul is unstable and your body is under his control, however, your shinigami powers finally have a reason to return and maintain balance within your soul. You know what to do, Ichigo."

He could only stand there in shock as his dream was finally realised. After two years of desperation a hollow attack had (once again) given him a reason to live. His mouth curled into a smirk as he looked up at Zangetsu.

"I know what to do. See you on the other side, I've got a body to reclaim." With that he closed his eyes and spread out his mind like he had the first time.

Slowly they appeared, boxes lay all around him but he continued to spread his thoughts as they piled around him in the dark. Until something flashed in his mind and his eyes shot open. Moving quicker than ever before he reached out and felt his hand close around a thread. Looking down, a full grin appeared on his face and he yanked the red thread.

A box came soaring out of the darkness and Ichigo caught it and, wasting no time, opened it. The world around him disintegrated and he felt a rush of power until he suddenly stopped and felt uncomfortable close to something, a barrier, or a-

_"Why hello there, king. I didn't expect you back you know, this is my show now." _Ichigo snarled and pushed himself against the barrier, getting a cry of shock from his hollow.

"_What the hell? You should still be weak you fucker!"_This got him a smirk from Ichigo who was starting to take control of the fight.

"_Sorry to disappoint you, but this is my body, and my power! Now,"_He felt a rush of sensations as he began to take control of his body, but kept pushing and reached up to grab the half mask formed on his face.

"GET OUT!" He roared out, using all his power to push against the oppressive hollow. Then suddenly it was gone, and his power was free, raging like a fire around him. He was afraid to let go of it now he had it back and continued to push his body as hard as he could before he heard a smooth voice in his mind.

"_It's over Ichigo, you have your powers back, rest."_That was all the incentive he needed as he collapsed in the alleyway, still in his human body and fell into unconscious, but not before hearing his hollow sent a few taunts his way.

"_Yeah, it's over for now King, but if you decide to get weak again, you know exactly what will happen..."_The last thing that he thought was the, considering his hollow was an evil creature based solely on his instinct: that was actually nice...for him anyway.

* * *

><p>Kisuke Urahara hummed slightly to himself as he laid back on his futon, gently fanning himself as he drifted in and out of thought. Idly wondering if he could up his prices any more and still keep the same amount of customers. He set the idea on hold as a more interesting thought popped into his head and a small smile grew on his face.<p>

'_I wonder if I can persuade Yoruichi to have some fun...she wasn't in the mood earlier but you never now with her.'_Just as he went to reach for the phone and invite her over for some 'fun', a familiar spiritual pressure roared into existence.

Urahara stood there for a moment before a huge smile grew on his lips and he started jumping around his room, cheering like a schoolgirl. The racket bought the rest of the house to the door of his room and they all piled in to find him jumping about the room.

"Uh, Urahara?" He turned suddenly to see three people all giving him strange looks, two small children and one muscle bound man.

"Ah, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu. I just got some brilliant news." He seemed to calm down as they stood there, his excitement being drawn into the smile that was playing about his lips as he looked at them.

"Well? What is it?" Tessai asked expectantly.

"It seems our friend, Mr. Kurosaki has just regained his spiritual pressure, at full power I might add, maybe even stronger!" The three looked at each other then back to his beaming form and Tessai hesitated before questioning him again.

"Uh, no offence, but is that really why you where dancing about-"

"Like a fairy" Jinta interrupted, still giving him a weird look.

"I think you might make a good fairy ." Ururu said quietly, earning a snicker from Jinta and a surprised look from Urahara.

"Well, maybe. But no, I am excited because one!" He flipped out a new fan and spread it, revealing a large number one on it. "He is my student and I am glad he can realise his full potential: which I helped him achieve and two" He flipped the fan around and displayed a large two to the group. "Because even though he had the spiritual pressure of a cat before hand; its depressing nature was really irritating."

He finished lamely before he cocked his head as he felt the spiritual pressure drop back to Ichigo's usual, uncontainable signature. Just he was about to speak up a new voice interrupted him and he froze at the sound.

"Who has the reiatsu of a cat, Kiske?" He slowly turned at the deep, masculine voice to see the small black cat staring at him from the window-sill.

"Ah, Yoruichi, I was just thinking about asking you over actually-" What ever he was about to say was cut off as the car jumped onto his clothes and hung on by digging its claws into his skin.

Urahara let out a loud yelp and started to run about trying to pull Yoruichi off him, all the time apologising for comparing her species of choice to Ichigo before he had his powers back. It was a few minutes before she relented and hopped off him to go find some clothes to change into.

Urahara was left covered in scratches, and was still pouting by the time she came back, now dressed in one of the many sets she kept in his house.

"Now I'm going to go pick up Ichigo since he's decided to take a nap in in the street by feel of his reiatsu." Urahara nodded but remained obstinately looking away from him until she walked over and smacked the back of his head, knocking him, face first, onto the floor.

"Stop being a baby, it's just a few scratches, use some kido and heal yourself up." She leant closer to him now and purred into his ear. "So I can make some new ones later, under _different_circumstances" His perverted mind lit up at the possibilities and so did his face as he turned to her.

"You always know how to make it better Yoruichi." He chuckled before he stood up and went to prepare a room for Ichigo as she used shunpo to get to him.

* * *

><p>The captain commander: Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, stood watching over the Seireitei as the sun rose, signalling a new day in the Soul-society. A knocking at his door interrupted his vigil and he turned to the door.<p>

"Enter." The two doors swung open to revel an exhausted, yet excited looking shinigami bearing a scrap of paper with some writing on it.

"Captain Yamamoto, Sir, I have been sent here to give you some important news from the world of the living. It seems substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki has regained his shinigami powers." The shinigami said the whole thing as quickly as he could and the room was plunged into silence.

Yamamoto was briefly shocked as the news hit him, but it wasn't like he hadn't prepared for this eventuality, and this was what he was hoping for after all. It was time to get one of their greatest advantages back from his self-imposed exile. Remaining stoic he looked back at the messenger and nodded his head in thanks.

"Thank you, you are dismissed." The shinigami instantly bowed and turned to run out of the room, closing the heavy doors behind him

The captain commander walked quickly to edge of his balcony and held up his finger; soon after a hell butterfly alighted on it and he started to relay his message into it. Once finished he lifted his finger and spoke the name of the recipient before it flew off to deliver the news.

"Deliver this mission to: Rukia Kuchiki."

With that the butterfly took of into the air of the dawn.

_(A/N) Heh, longest chapter i've ever written, hope it was enjoyable._


	2. The Duty of a Shinigami

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

The afternoon light gently washed over Ichigo as he slept, unawares in Urahara's shop. He shifted slightly in his sleep, rolling slightly and murmuring.

"No, don't...come back."

"I haven't moved." A voice suddenly penetrated his mind and he shot up, looking around for the source. His eyes rested on the relaxed form of a woman resting against one of the panelled walls.

"Yoruichi? What are you doing? Where am I?" He looked around briefly before turning his attention back to her, all he got was a small smirk in response, and a new voice interrupted him.

"So cruel, Kurosaki, have you forgotten about me already?" He turned to the new speaker, and found himself looking at a grinning Urahara, who was standing in the doorway of the room.

"Hat-and-clogs?" He gave the room another once over before turning back to him. "So I'm in your place?"

"Ah, I see you haven't forgotten, that's good news. I wouldn't want to feel unloved." He got a chuckle from Yoruichi at this, who was now looking at him.

"I don't recall you ever feeling unloved whilst I was here, Kiske." He tipped his hat to her and took a step into the room, sitting down next to Ichigo.

"True, true. Maybe I have forgotten and need some reminding." Ichigo finally caught the topic that they where discussing and his face turned red.

"Wha-Shut up! Don't talk like that here." Both the adults turned to give him an amused look.

"You always where shy, Ichigo. I would have thought being eighteen would change that, but it looks like you still react the same as when you saw me-" Yoruichi started before he cut her off.

"SHUT UP! It wasn't my fault, you just randomly changed." Urahara pouted at this and gave Yoruichi a sad look.

"Hey, you said you would stop doing that." He got a non-committal grunt in return from her and she continued to smirk at Ichigo.

"It's not like he was going to do anything, Kiske. Besides his expression alone was worth it, plus I get the advantage of saying I was the first woman he saw naked, it's a win win." Urahara didn't look convinced but nether the less he turned to Ichigo.

"Anyway, I'm sure you know why your here, Ichigo." The thoroughly embarrassed Ichigo gave him a questioning look for a split second, before it all came back to him.

_Hollow, death, Zangetsu...power._

"I have my shinigami powers back." Urahara just nodded at him before continuing.

"Yes, and I'm sure that this will not go unnoticed by the soul-society." Ichigo scoffed at this, and Yoruichi and Urahara shared a knowing look before she interjected.

"Something the matter, Ichigo?" She said, knowing full-well what was on his mind.

"The soul-society is hardly going to be keeping tabs on me, I've served my purpose after all." His scowl was noticeable now, as was the bitter tone in his voice. Yoruichi sighed and stood up without him noticing.

_SMACK_

"What the hell was that for?" Ichigo roared, from his new position: lying at Yoruichi's feet.

"Quit moping about you baby, you got your powers back: you are a shinigami. Isn't that what you have waited for all this time, and your still stuck in self-pity." He growled and pushed himself of the floor to stand face to face with her.

"Well, it's hardly my fault that bastards decided to not even visit once! Not even R-" He caught himself before he finished and looked back at the floor, taking deep breaths to attempt to calm himself.

"Oh, so is it not just your lack of contact on your mind, but a certain shinigami?" Ichigo just scowled back at her before responding.

"I don't know what your on about, Yoruichi." She rolled her eyes and walked over to the wall besides Urahara.

"Whatever you say, Ichigo. But trust me when we say they will be coming for you now." He shot them both a questioning gaze, but neither was giving anything away and he just continued to scowl at them.

"You should really be getting home now; I phoned your father, but no doubt he already knew the good news. Regardless, you should really be getting home." Urahara continued to talk as he moved out of the room, with Yoruichi lazily trailing behind him.

Ichigo followed the two out to the front of the shop, where Urahara stopped next to a small package and picked it up."Now you are a shinigami again, your going to need this." He handed it over and Ichigo unwrapped it curiously.

"W-where did you get this?" He said in shock: it was his substitute soul reaper combat pass. He had thought it lost after a particularly irritating day. He had thrown it across his room and It had fallen out of sight, since then he hadn't been able to find it.

Yoruichi spoke up now, leaning on the counter with a bored expression.

"I found it lying behind some junk in the corner of your room, had to mover some furniture, so make sure to move it back." Ichigo looked up from the badge in shock.

"You what? What if someone had noticed?"

"Well, your dad did, but I just told him I was looking for my stuff in your room-" Ichigo almost feinted, his father would have a field day.

"YOU DID WHAT!" Urahara was chuckling along with Yoruichi as they looked at the enraged boy.

"I knew that would get a good reaction, you better get back quick before Isshin gathers even more steam for the idea." He didn't need to be told twice as he shot out of the store. He heard the start of Urahara's response to Yoruichi.

"Now, that was cruel Yoruichi, and damned funny..." The rest was cut off as he got further away from the store, intent on punching his father the first chance he got.

'_Serves him right for being a pervert, no wonder him and those two are friends.'_

* * *

><p>Rukia stood in the grounds of the Kuchiki manor, blankly looking out at the zen garden. There where numerous similar gardens around the grounds, but this one was always her preference.<p>

She had found herself here more since she had returned to the soul-society, it was calm and it kept her out of contact with those that she didn't feel like dealing with. She just felt less inclined to work, she had less passion for her job as a shinigami.

It was just like before Ichigo was catapulted into her life.

It hurt to see him so far gone. That was shy she pulled out of the world of the living; at first she made sure she was with him a fair amount of the time, but over time she noticed that he changed. His reiatsu (which she could still feel, no matter how small it was), slowly darkened and became almost smotheringly oppressive.

She could feel his depression and could only watch, helpless, as he started to lose his spark, and the energy visibly drained out of him. It was terrible for her to watch it, and that was why she was no longer stationed there. She had requested to be reassigned after a year of watching him destroy himself.

It wasn't like she had wanted to leave him without contact, she was given an order directly from the captain commander to not interfere with the life of Ichigo. She had tried a few times, attempting to get a gigai and go to see him for even a day to try and snap him out of it.

It hadn't worked.

Urahara had flat-out refused, saying that it was impossible for him to help her this time, since he was now under direct observation from the soul-society and at least for the moment, he should see how he turned out. He wasn't the only one who had stopped her, Byakuya had expressly forbade her from using a gigai at all when she went to the world of the living, even going so far as to send a member of the sixth squad to sense the reiatsu of her and report if she attempted to use a gigai.

'_Ultimately_._..it's useless'_She thought, looking down at the grains of sand in lines beneath her feet.

She wouldn't see him again until he was finished in the world of the living, and died. She sighed and pushed it from her mind, she did not want to dwell on how much she would miss the orange haired boy.

As she thought this, she noticed a hell butterfly, floating towards her and she automatically stood up straighter and held out her finger to receive the message.

"_Rukia Kuchiki: it has come to the attention of the soul-society that substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki has regained his powers recently. Your mission is to retrieve him and bring him back to the soul-society, before awaiting further instructions."_ Rukia stood in shock as she replayed the message over and over in her head.

"Ichigo..." She breathed out. He had his powers back, she would see him again. A smile spread across her face as she started to flash-step towards the squad thirteen barracks.

When she got there she quickly made here way to the captains office, before stopping before the door and composing herself to her normal, controlled image. She knocked on the door and awaited for a response from the man inside.

"Come in." She quickly walked in and knelt down before her captain.

"Please, no need to be so formal Rukia." She stood and started relaying her mission to him.

"Sir, I have orders from Captain commander Yamamoto to go to the world of the living." Captain Ukitake nodded and smiled at her.

"Why would that be?" He noticed her eyes light up, even though her face remained stoic.

"Substitute shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki has recovered his powers and I have been asked to bring him back to the seireitei." Ukitake smiled widely at this: he had noticed that she had not been the same since the boy had lost his powers.

"Well, lets see what the captain commander had ready for him this time." He nodded at her and motioned for her to leave, to which she bowed and quickly left the room.

Quickly she jumped over to the main seireitei gate and jumped through it.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo, I imagine you will be getting a visitor shortly" The only response he got was a moan from the sleeping boy, who rolled over in the recovery bed.<p>

"Piss of...bloody dad..." He mumbled, before settling down in the bed. Urahara sighed and walked out of the room, if he wanted to stay in bed he could for all he cared.

"Yoruichi! Make sure to take Rukia to Ichigo's room when she arrives, he won't wake up." He didn't get a response but he assumed she heard him.

Urahara settled down at the till, listing to Jinta and Ururu playing outside. He was brought out of his musings by the familiar reiatsu of the petite shinigami emerged in the world of the living once more. She appeared at his door and he grinned as she made her way in.

"well, well. The soul-society sent you did they?" Rukia gave the shop owner a small smile and flicked her eyes in the direction of Ichigo's reiatsu.

"Yes, I suppose it's because I've been here before and spent some time with Ichigo before." She said as Urahara got up and moved to show her to Ichigo's room.

"He's asleep at the moment, but you should go in anyway, give him a nice surprise!" He pushed her in to the room and slid the door shut behind her.

She frowned in irritation at the ever persistent shop-keeper, but her irritation was gone when she looked down on the sleeping boy. He looked older, and even when sleeping he seemed to have gained a small frown as he slept.

She bent down besides him and looked at him for a second longer before she smirked as a sense of familiarity washed over her, and she shoved her arm into his stomach.

"THE HELL DAD ! You ba-" His eyes widened as he saw the familiar face smirking down at him.

"R-Rukia?" He looked with disbelief at the figure in front of him, even going as far as reaching out a finger to poke her. She batted it away with irritation.

"I'm real you fool, though it is nice that you thought you might be having hallucinations about me." She shot him another smirk and he could see the amusement dancing in her eyes. Scowling he stood up, his tall form towering over her.

"Yeah right, more like nightmares of being chased by an angry midget." This earned him a bruised toe as she stamped on it in irritation.

"I am not a midget!" Ichigo hopped around on his other foot for a while before the pain subsided and he gave her a once over with his eyes.

"It's been a long time, Rukia." There was definitely a bitter tone in his voice now, and rukia was torn between being angry at him and feeling guilty over not trying herder to visit him.

"Maybe for you, Ichigo." He gave her a questioning look and she sighed and mumbled something to the floor.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you from up here." Her foot quickly found his shin and he fell onto the floor clutching it.

"God dammit Rukia!" She glowered down at him before responding in a huff whilst crossing her arms over her chest.

"I said that I saw you last Thursday when I came to check up on you, but it seems my time was waisted on someone like you." Ichigo widened his eyes in shock and slowly rose to his feet, his eyes not able to meet hers as she looked away.

"You've...been checking up on me?" She nodded in response, still not meeting his eyes. "for how long?"

"When I left the world of the living a year ago, I made sure to check up on you each month to see if your situation had improved. Obviously it hadn't, until tonight." At this she finally looked into his deep brown eyes, and he looked into her violet ones. The moment of understanding was broken as Ichigo furrowed his brow.

"Why did you leave me alone? Why didn't you visit me?" His tone was softer now, but it was more accusatory and there was an edge of sadness to it.

"I wanted to, believe me. But the captain commander gave direct orders to everyone in the seireitei to not interrupt your life any further." He was about to interrupt but she gave him a glare that stopped him and continued. "Before you ask, yes, I still tried to visit you but I could not find away around the precautions in place...I'm sorry." The last part was so soft that Ichigo thought he might have imagined it, but one look at her face told him otherwise: her eyes where looking at the floor and her head was dipped towards him.

Ichigo sighed and rubbed his hands on his face: all the anger he felt was pointless now, at least any directed towards the woman in front of him. Then he slightly surprised himself as he responded to her.

"Idiot" Rukia's head shot up; she had been expecting him to hate her, to cast her out of his life for good. But he just stood there with an exasperated look on his face and his shoulders slumped down.

"Ichigo, I-" She was cut of by him.

"Listen to me, Rukia. I may have felt a lot of things over the time that you have been gone, and yes, it hurt me when I was abandoned by the soul-society. But I know what you think, and I don't hate you." Rukia continued to avert here eyes and he ran a hand through his orange hair before he muttered something under his breath and took a step towards her.

"You have helped me plenty of times and been there when I needed you, now it's my turn. Stop pissing about and blaming yourself midget, I won't ever hate you." Now it was his turn to look away as she looked back at him with a shocked expression, his cheeks heating up.

"Ichi-" He cut her off again with a wave of his hand.

"Shut it, I'm never saying that again." he continued to grumble under his breath as he went to retrieve his shinigami badge, only to be punched in the stomach when he returned.

"Ow! Why dammit!" He grunted as he hunched over, holding is stomach in pain. Rukia just rolled her eyes and pushed him towards the door.

"That was for interrupting me, _strawberry_, I haven't decided what to do about your repeated insults to my height yet..."

"It's not an insult it's a fact." He almost gulped at the intensity of the glare she shot him when she turned her head, not stopping to insult him back.

"Your only making it worse on yourself, Ichigo." Her voice had an edge to it that promised pain, and her flaring reiatsu was not comforting him in the least, she almost seemed like she was actively trying to smother him with it.

'_Damn his strong reiatsu, if he was weaker I could have him on his knees.'_She almost whined inside her head, still flaring it towards him.

The pair arrived outside the gates to the shop, and met Urahara and Yoruichi there, the duo stopped whatever they where talking about when they caught sight of them and two smirks replaced the noise.

'_What are they up to'_Ichigo wondered, but couldn't pursue the thought as Urahara started talking.

"It looks like you where able to get Ichigo up and ready then, I take it you will be opening up a Senkaimon?" Rukia nodded in response so he continued talking.

"Well then it looks like this will be good bye for now, Ichigo, I'm sure you will be kept busy up there, so don't worry about coming to visit when you get back for the brief time that you are." Ichigo didn't get a chance to question him as Rukia had already opened the Senkaimon to take them to the soul-society.

Sliding her Zanpakuto back into its sheath, she gave a quick farewell to the two observers before grabbing Ichigo and pulling him through the Senkaimon. "Bye, Urahara and Yoruichi."

As it closed the remaining pair looked at each other with a knowing look and started to head back into the house.

"How long do you think?" questioned Urahara.

"Knowing those two? A while, what about the task ahead of him?" At this Urahara broke out into a broad grin and a mischievous glint shone in his eye.

"Oh, I'm sure Ichigo will be very happy with what's to come."

"Well, we can always go and visit him and find out for ourselves..." Her tone now gaining an amused quality as the two started to plan ahead.

* * *

><p>As Ichigo was pulled out of the senkaimon he ripped his robe out of Rukia's grasp and turn to glare down at her. "Why the hell where you pulling me?"<p>

"You could have taken ages, and I was given a direct order to get you here!" She returned his glare with equal intensity and put her hands on her hips.

"That doesn't mean you have to drag me along, I thought you where a noble with exquisite manners." He returned in a sarcastic tone, earning a punch in the arm from the smaller shinigami.

"Like you would know manners if beat your sorry ass!" Ichigo was about to respond when a voice interrupted their argument.

"Did you two realise that your out already?" They both turned to find the sound of the voice, only to find all of the Gotei 13 captains watching them. Rukia instantly went to her knees in front of the group whilst Ichigo just stood and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, hey-" was all he managed before Rukia punched him in the stomach and pushed him to the ground.

"What is it now, you bitch." Ichigo moaned, holding his much abused stomach.

"Shut up, idiot. Show some respect!" Rukia hissed at him, only to have him scoff as he stood back up.

"Yeah, you do that. I'll continue standing thank you very much." Her retort was halted when Yamamoto brought his staff down to hit the ground and created an echoing thud that interrupted them.

"You have achieved your goal, Kuchiki, now I ask that you step to one side." Rukia hesitated briefly before moving over to stand besides captain Ukitake.

Ichigo watched her go, before turning his attention to the old man in front of him. "Did you want something now that I am _useful_again?" his tone was hostile and Rukia had to bite her tongue not to lash out at him. However this did not seem to phase Yamamoto as he stood forward.

"Ichigo Kurosaki: in light of everything you have done for the soul-society, including saving it and defeating Aizen during the winter war, I would like to offer you an official post within the Gotei 13." Ichigo looked at him sceptically before responding.

"And what post would that be?"

"Captain of squad five." There was silence for a moment before Ichigo blinked and stuttered a response.

"W-what? You want me to be a permanent captain here?" Yamamoto nodded before elaborating.

"We cannot have your unmanageable reiatsu in the world of the living, and there is already more than enough protection in Karakura town." Ichigo pondered it for a second before straightening his back and responding.

"What about the living world? Will I be able to return for visits to my family?" Even as he said this his mind was starting to shift towards one answer.

"Yes, but only with permission and use of holiday, and your power will be put under the same seal as all other captains and lieutenants." Ichigo nodded before he glanced at Rukia, then over at the Seireitei towering high in the distance. Finally he turned to look at the captain commander and a small smirk grew on his lips.

"Very well, I'll do it."

(A/N) So now he's captain :D and I chose the fifth squad because of the lovely idea of him taking over where Aizen left off, and the squad would suit him anyhow. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for those who reviewed, and please review to those who didn't! I promise to respond to ever one :P


	3. Moving on

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

* * *

><p>The Senkaimon opened and Ichigo and Rukia stepped back into the world of the living. Once they arrived, Rukia turned to him.<p>

"We can't stay here long I'm afraid, are you going to-" Ichigo cut her off by grabbing her arm and shunpoing towards Urahara's shop.

"Don't try that shit Rukia, your coming with me, they are your friends too. Besides, I'm sure my sisters will want to see you again." She turned her head to hide the smile that grew on her face.

"Fine, idiot, let's get our gigais and go." The two dropped and were surprised to find their bodies both laid outside of Urahara's shop and a sign on the door.

"Closed, come back later" Ichigo read out, shrugging his shoulders and hopping back into his body.

"Okay, who do you want to tell first?" Ichigo patted down his jacket before he responded.

"I think we should start of by getting our friends together and telling them, or at least the ones who still know what happened. We can tell them and then spend the rest of our time here with my family who will take longer." Rukia smiled and put her hand on his shoulder when she heard his voice drop towards the end.

"I'm sure they will accept your decision, especially your father. And your sisters will be in shock...but they will come around in the end." Ichigo smiled warmly at her before starting the walk home, Rukia matching his pace besides him. He pulled out his phone and rang up chad to prepare for his announcement.

"_Hello?"_Came the smooth voice from the other side.

"Yeah, hey Chad. I was hoping you could gather up everyone who knows I used to be a shinigami at your place?"

"_Yeah of course, when will you be over?"_Ichigo looked around at the area before taking a guess at how long it would take to walk there.

"In about twenty minutes or so I suppose."

"_I should have everyone here if they aren't busy then, see you there."_With that, Chad hung up and a comfortable silence fell between the two. Ichigo looked over to her and checked her against his memory for any changes. She looked pretty much the same as before she left him, but when he looked closer there seemed to be something...off about her. Curious, he questioned her.

"How has the soul-society been for you?" He saw a flicker of what looked like pain pass through her eyes but it was gone just as quick and she shrugged.

"The same as it always was I guess, quieter than it has been in a long time." Here she looked pointedly at him and he could not help a smirk, which she rolled her eyes at." I'm still an unseated member so I don't really get that much to do when I am not positioned in the living world." Ichigo frowned at this.

"Why aren't you a lieutenants yet? Or does Ukitake have one?" Rukia shook her head and looked away from him.

"Apparently Nii-sama had a word with some of the people in central 46 and had me removed from the list of available members because seated officers and lieutenants get sent on more dangerous missions." Ichigo felt conflicted at this, on one hand he was happy that Byakuya was finally being the brother that Rukia deserved, but on the other he didn't want her to get hurt either. They continued in silence for a moment before he figured out what to say.

"At least the ice-cube has some feelings after all" He got a punch in the head for this.

"You are way to abusive, you know that?" He scowled, rubbing his bruised jaw, Rukia only scoffed at this.

"Oh please, I've seen you in a much worse state than _that_, stop being such a baby." Ichigo just grumbled for a few moments before he once again walked beside her in silence. This time it was her who broke it with an unusually timid tone for her.

"Do..do you think he's right to do that?" He looked at her in surprise at her acting so out of character, but chuckled after a moments thought. She turned to glare at him for laughing at her. "What?" He took a moment but calmed down and tilted his head to her.

"Timid's not your think _Kuchiki_." She growled and moved to hit him once again before he caught her wrist in her hand and looked her in the eyes.

"In answer to your question I think you should be in a higher position, but for once I can understand why Byakuya has tried to protect you, even if you don't need it." Rukia's eyes softened and she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Ichigo, _you_, are the king of protecting people when they don't need it." Ichigo sneered at her I response and grumbled under his breath as he started stalking away from her.

"Last time I save you from being impaled..." Rukia smirked at his retreating form and quickly caught up to him as they drew closer to Chad's apartment. He enjoyed bringing that up, and the fact that she hadn't thanked him still seemed to irritate him, she ginned as they got to the apartment and Ichigo knocked on the door.

Chad opened the door and was surprised to see Rukia, she greeted him as they entered and the rest of the group turned to see them. The only ones who knew what Ichigo was: Ishida, Chad, Inuoe and Tatsuki. Anyone else had their memory altered by the soul-society, so would be given the same excuse as the school.

"Kuchiki, w-what are you doing here?" Orihime asked, stuttering as she looked between Ichigo and the girl who had changed him.

"I should let Ichigo explain." Was all Rukia said before she turned to Ichigo and he stepped forward, scowling as usual.

"Well, Ishida has probably noticed and if he hasn't told you I have my shinigami powers back" He held up his hand before anyone interrupted him " That isn't why I'm here though, Rukia was not allowed to come back to us before and now she has, she took me back to the soul-society where I was offered the opportunity to become captain of the fifth squad...and I accepted." No-one spoke as the news sunk in and everyone looked from Ichigo to Rukia.

"This means that I will be leaving the world of the living permanently." He explained, wondering if they had got his meaning. It was silent for a few more seconds before Chad stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It doesn't surprise me that you have chosen this path, Ichigo, and I'm sure we will see you again." Ichigo smirked up at his most loyal friend and stuck out his hand, which Chad gripped firmly and shook it before he stood back and allowed the rest to say their goodbyes, next was Ishida who pushed up his glasses as he stood forward.

"It looks like you are becoming a full shinigami finally, I can't say I agree with you, being a Quincy, but I'm sure I'll feel your chaotic reiatsu before too long." Ichigo rolled his eyes at his rival turned friend and took his outstretched hand for a quick shake.

Orihime took a tentative step forward and Ichigo turned to her. This was hardly the way she had envisioned revealing this to him but it looked like this was her last chance before he was whisked away by Rukia. Blushing heavily she looked down at the floor and her voice was shaking as she spoke.

"K-kurosaki, I h-have something I haven't told y-you..." Ichigo looked at her curiously and Rukia did the same from besides him, wondering what she had hidden from them. "...F-for a long time I-I...I have had feelings for you." She finished in what was almost a whisper and the room was shocked into silence, well Ichigo and Rukia were, the rest just watched, not surprised by her confession.

Finally Ichigo was brought out of his state of shock and he frowned, raising his hand to the back of his head. "Oh, right...well...I'm sorry but I don't see you as any more than a friend." He looked away , feeling awkward about the situation. Orihime gave a weak smile and then confused Rukia by looking at her then back to him.

"D-don't worry, i-it's okay I u-understand and hope your h-happy with her, goodbye...Ichigo." With that she left, a few tears starting to roll down her face as she close the door. All Ichigo could do was bluster and stutter helplessly as she left, until he turned to his friends questioningly.

"Does she think I like someone else?" No one answered and Ishida even rolled his eyes before saying that he was going after her. Rukia, who was just as confused as him just shook her head slightly and smacked him on the head.

"Idiot, couldn't you have been more sensitive?" Ichigo turned and glared down at her, his face still slightly red from from the sudden confession.

"Well, I'd like to see you handle the situation midget, but I doubt anyone would find you attractive enough!" There was silence after this comment and Ichigo immediately regretted saying it, seeing pain and betrayal flashing across her eyes. However, she said nothing and just looked away from him, refusing to meet his eyes again.

"You can be such an ass sometimes." He looked up as Tatsuki stepped forward, a grimace on her face. Ichigo looked back at Rukia then to her, running his hand through his hair and sighing before he stepped forward to talk to her.

"It's a talent I guess, comes from being around people that kick my ass." She smirked at this and punched in the shoulder to agree with his point.

"Yeah well, you would have thought that it would teach you not to be one, I suppose I haven't been hitting you hard enough all this time." She laughed at his glare then moved around him and before going after Orihime said to Rukia in a whisper loud enough for him to hear. "It's all up to you to beat him into shape now, looks like you have your work cut out for you until I croak and help you."

Rukia smiled and in an sinister sounding voice responded. "Don't worry about that, in addition to his usual punishment I owe him for something...so he won't be so cocky after I'm finished with him." Ichigo turned and smirked at her defiantly.

"Oh really? I wonder if you can back up that claim?" Rukia's smirk only grew and he silently wondered what he had got himself into, but kept his cocky smirk on as Tatsuki chuckled before leaving to find and comfort Orihime.

Ichigo looked around the nearly empty apartment and said goodbye to Chad one more time before he and Rukia left and started to make their way to his house. The silence was much less comfortable now and Ichigo finally snapped when they were nearing his street.

"What's up with you?" He growled out: she had refused to meet his gaze since his comment in the house and was obstinately maintaining a cold expression as she stared straight ahead.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Like hell you don't, was it what I said in the apartment? 'cause I didn't think you were that self-conscious..." He started to smirk as he said he and Rukia turned to glare at him before moving to walk ahead of him since she knew the way. Ichigo's expression dropped and he sighed before swallowing his pride for the second time that day.

"I didn't mean it okay? I'm sure someone finds cute midgets attractive-" She turned around with a smirk on her face and amusement in her eyes at this.

"So, you think I'm cute?" Ichigo blushed as he realised his slip of tongue to late and just pushed past her grumbling. Rukia however smiled brightly behind him before she, once again, joined his side.

* * *

><p>When they reached his door Ichigo hesitated before knocking, not looking forward to the task at hand. "This is not going to be fun." He sighed, and Rukia gave him an understanding look before he knocked on the door.<p>

Yuzu opened the door and her smile grew vary bright upon seeing Rukia and her brother standing there. "Ichi-nii, and you brought Rukia back!" Ichigo smiled as did Rukia but inside it was getting harder and harder for him to tell her that he was going.

Yuzu quickly pulled them in and the two sat on the couch, Ichigo thinking about how best to do this, until suddenly he was saved by his father who grabbed him and pulled him back up before he could react, calling the two girls into the room. "Karin, Yuzu, your brother has a very important announcement to make!"

The two girls came into the room, Yuzu bubbling like always, and Karin looking bored as ever. Though the two were older now, Ichigo still saw them as the little sisters he always had, and would be damned if that ever changed. Yuzu was the first to ask about the announcement.

"Are you finally marrying Rukia?" Ichigo spluttered and Rukia simply turned red at the question, her eyes on her hands as she fiddled with them.

"About time, I was waiting for it-" Karin drawled, only to be cut off as Ichigo finally regained the ability of speech.

"NO!, Rukia and I, we-we're not like that!" All he got was a roll of the eyes from Karin and then his father decided to revert to his usual self.

"It's not that girls, though you really should get working on making me some granchildren with my third daughter, you know neither of you are getting any younger-" Ichigo promptly punched him into a wall, very sad that he couldn't knock him out. He might need him later.

"Shut it you crazy bastard!" He took a few breaths to calm himself down before he turned to his sisters and started slowly. " Listen you two, I-I am...well..." He stumbled over his words before composing himself and trying again.

"I am going to the soul-society with Rukia. For good." The news hung in the air like it had in the apartment earlier before Yuzu spoke, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Your leaving Ichi-nii? W-will we be able to visit you? W-where was it?" Ichigo stopped here, his heart feeling painful in his chest as he looked helplessly at his sisters tears. Karin was looking at him with the same expression minus the tears, but she didn't look to far off right then. Isshin took the incentive and jumped down between the two girls.

"Ichigo will be going to a place where souls go after they have died, and will continued to fight the bad ones, or hollows. Even if you can't see them Yuzu, and overall help people more than he could do If he stayed in the living world." Yuzu's eyes widened at the last part and Karin's eyes started to water, but she quickly brushed them away with her arm.

"Ichi-nii is going to die!" She croaked loudly, before she started crying heavily and Ichigo quickly moved over to the two of them, taking his fathers place as he moved. He wrapped his arms around the two girls and they both clung on to him as he softly treid to comfort them.

"Well, truth be told Yuzu, my soul chain was severed by Urahara two or three years ago, so technically I suppose I've been dead for a while." He joked, then seeing her expression only slightly shift he put his chin on her head and leant against her. "Don't worry about me, I will be able to visit you every now and then when I have holidays. It will be just like if I moved away like I eventually would, I won't leave you for good." He kissed the top of her head gently before he turned to Karin and decided to just ruffle her hair a bit until she looked up at him.

"Dammit, Ichigo, your such an ass." He chuckled at her and remembered what Tatsuki had said to Rukia before she left.

"Listen, now I'm going I need you to be the man of the house Karin, beat up dad when he gets perverted and crazy, and keep boys away from Yuzu until she's at least forty." She smirked at him and hugged him once again, speaking into his chest as she did.

"Don't worry about that Ichi-nii, I'll be more of a man than you ever were." Ichigo smiled at this, and continued to hug his sisters until the settled down and stopped crying. It was then that Yuzu turned to Rukia and beckoned her over.

"And your like Ichigo, Rukia? Your going with him?" Rukia bent down next to her and nodded.

"Yes, I am a shinigami like your brother, and I will be taking him to the soul-society, and actually I will be below him, because your brother will have a very important job once he gets there." Yuzu wiped her still teary eyes and asked what it was.

"Your brother will become the captain of one of the thirteen protection squads: he will command the fifth squad and have a lot of responsibility." After she said this the family and almost-adopted Kuchiki heard a laugh come from Karin, who was still buried in Ichigo's chest. It soon grew into a full blown laugh ans she started rolling on the couch, breathing heavily through her laughter.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Ichigo asked, offended that he got this response from her, but it was nothing compared to the embarrassment of her next statement.

"Y-you are going to be a-a captain?" She asked through the laughter, only irritating him more.

"Yes?" She stopped laughing for a second and looked him in the eyes, looking very serious and said:

"Captain Strawberry?"

…

Everyone in the room aside from Ichigo broke out in laughter at this, he sat there embarrassed and insulted that was the first thing she thought of whilst they laughed around him, even the normally reserved Rukia attempting to hold back the laughter from behind her hand. It was this more than anything that actually lifted his spirits, and soon enough he was joining them as they laughed on the floor in until they were exhausted. The peaceful silence was broken by Rukia's soul pager beeping, signalling that the time was up for Ichigo.

"Come back soon, okay!" Yuzu cried, tearing up again as Rukia turned to open a Senkaimon next to them, Ichigo not out of his body yet.

"I'll try, dad could you get Urahara to turn my body into a gigai?" His father nodded before Ichigo moved over to him and, for the last time in a while, pressed his combat pass to his chest. His body was caught by his father who flipped it onto his shoulder. "Be careful with that, old man!" Ichigo complained, to which his father scoffed.

"Why, it's not like you ever were." Ichigo scowled and giving his family a last look and a wave, even to Yuzu, who could see his faint, blurry outline against the Light of the portal, before nodding at Rukia and stepping into the Light.

Just as the doors close he heard his fathers voice follow him through with one last message. " I'll make sure to send Yoruichi round if I ever want to check up on you! And take care of my idiot son my beautiful third daughter!" Ichigo cringed at the thought of the damage that Yoruichi could do whilst here and sighed as he saw the door to his new home.

* * *

><p>"I am so screwed." Rukia smirked at him as the doors opened and the two stepped through together.<p>

"You don't know the half of it, Ichigo." He scowled at her and the doors closed behind them, the familiar settings coming into view in-front of him, with the exception of the messenger who stood in front of him.

"That's captain Kurosaki to you." Ichigo said, mimicking Toushiro as he spoke.

"Not yet your not, I don't see a haori on you, Strawberry." As if on cue the messenger stepped forwards and made his presence known to the pair.

"Sir, I have been ordered to bring you to the Captains assembly hall immediately." Ichigo smirked at Rukia who wrinkled her nose at him in response to the message.

"You were saying?" And with that he motioned for the messenger to go and the two followed him for a bit until Rukia saw her barracks and gave him a poke to stop him.

"I'm going back to report to my barracks, I'm sure I'll see you after you become a captain, but before I go, please remember to be respectful." There was a hint of exasperation in her voice as she turned around walked away from him.

"Yeah, whatever midget!" His only response was a call back before she used shunpo to get out of range.

"screw you, 'berry!" Ichigo scowled slightly at the new name.

'_She better not remember that later'_ Shrugging he turned to the member of the fourth squad who had been asked to guide him to the meeting.

"Hey, what's your name?" The shinigami seemed surprised at the question and responded in a slightly awed voice.

"I'm Yaniji Kalina, I'm an unseated member of the fourth squad." Ichigo nodded before responding.

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, I'll be the new fifth squad captain." Yaniji nodded quickly and spoke excitedly.

"I know who you are, you defeated Aizen didn't you?" Ichigo blinked in surprise and nodded, rubbing the back of his head as he thought about it.

"Yeah, I suppose that's pretty well known by now." His guide nodded viciously before turning them down one of the long corridors in the building.

"Oh yes, lots of people know how much you have done for us, it's an honour to be the first one to meet you and show you around sir." Ichigo held back a groan at this, pleading with whatever deity existed that it wasn't as bad as he hoped.

"And uh, do they all know what I look like?" He asked, hoping that he would be able to get around the seireitei without resorting to using shunpo to get everywhere, his hopes soared when he saw the guide shake his head.

"I don't think so, but it won't be long before it's published in the monthly magazine since that will be coming out next week, and this will be a good story for them." Ichigo's hopes fell once more and he could only cling to the hope that the shinigami would be nice enough not to treat him as anything he wasn't or as some type of idol.

These were his thoughts as he arrived at the captains hall, his guide bidding him a hasty farewell and running down the corridor to boast that they had been the one to show Ichigo around. Ichigo sighed and calmed himself before he opened the door and stepped into the chamber of the Gotei 13, all eyes on him as he walked up between the captains and bowed to Yamamoto, not going so far as to kneel before him.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you are here to join the Gotei 13, and to take up the position and responsibility of fifth squad captain. Step forward." Ichigo did as he was told and stood in-front of the captain commander, staring back at him.

"Do you accept the responsibility that comes with this position? And understand that you will make your own decisions on how to run the squad, and that any unfavourable repercussions are yours to deal with?."

"I do." Was all Ichigo said as he waited for the next question.

"And do you accept the laws of the soul-society, and any punishment that comes from either myself or central 46."

"I do." Yamamoto then held out his hand and a haori materialised in it, folded and clean.

"Then take this and wear it with pride, fifth squad captain: Ichigo Kurosaki." He did as instructed and then stood, clothed in his new robe, in the centre of the room.

"Take your place, Captain Kurosaki." He motioned to the left of him, to the side of the seventh squad captain Komomura. And across from Unohana and Soi fon. After he had, the captain commander dismissed them and as they left he was immediately spoken to by a few of the captains, others simply nodded as they passed him. The two that approached him were Kyoraku and Ukitake, both smiling at him.

"Well well well, it looks like we're going to have you around for good from now on." Said the flamboyant eight squad captain, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I s'pose so, uh-" Shunsui laughed at his hesitation and gave him a wide smile.

"I don't think we've ever been introduced have we?" Ichigo shook his head and the older captain held out his hand. "Shunsui Kyoraku, eight squad captain."

"Oh right, well I'm sorry Shunsui, there are a lot of you and I haven't had the time to fight with you all." He got a chuckle for this and the three started walking down the hall together.

"Well I hope we don't have to any time soon, I much prefer drinking to fighting...speaking of which-" It was then that Ukitake interrupted chuckling.

"I wondered how long it would be before you asked him. Congratulations on your position Ichigo, I'm sure you will be a fine captain." Ukitake smiled and Ichigo felt a deep liking for the man, after all he had helped Rukia and now he could see that he was a good man.

"Yeah, but you will have to come drinking with us some day Kurosaki, it's the best way to get to know someone. And you are going to need it after all the paper work you'll be doing as a captain now, sayonara." His voice drifted of as he and Ukitake left to go to their own barracks, leaving Ichigo on his own as he headed for the fifth squad barracks, thinking about what he had just heard.

"...Paperwork?"

(A/N) Another chapter done, thanks again to all who reviewed the previous chapter, and remember more reviews = more incentive to write! :P It is very gratifying to read every review I get! Sorry if it took a bit of time to get into the soul-society, but now it's time to deal with all the issues that remain unresolved, YAY :)


	4. Squad Five

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

It took Ichigo longer than he thought to find his barracks, but eventually he found himself outside the barracks. He was just about to push the doors open when he was stopped by a small sound behind him. Turning around he found a small woman bowing to him.

"Hello, captain, I am Momo Hinamori, your lieutenant." The name registered somewhere in his mind but he couldn't place it.

"Right, you don't need to be so formal with me you know, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." He stuck his hand out towards the girl and she paused before taking it, meeting his eyes as she did.

"Yes, I've seen you before...you defeated Cap- I mean Aizen." Ichigo stood in an awkward silence after she let go of his hand, after all this had been his previous squad. The lieutenant must have known him somewhat.

Momo gave him a sad smile and directed him around the side of the building, to a side entrance. " We will use this, I have already gathered the squad and your identity as the new captain has not been released yet, so it will be a shock for them." He saw a hint of amusement in her eyes, and despite his embarrassment smirked.

"Well, I hope they don't make too much of a commotion, I don't want to cause a fuss..." Momo gave him a wide grin as they approached the hall.

"Says the man who had the whole Seireitei in uproar when he first came here." Ichigo scowled and she laughed at his expression, her previous attitude dissolving briefly before motioning for him to wait as she went out to talk to the squad. He stood in the shadows as she called out to the talkative members standing in front of her.

"All right men, quiet. I called you here so I could introduce our new captain!" There was a some excited muttering and Ichigo could pick out some of the chatter before the were silent again.

"_I wonder who it is?"_

_"Who got promoted?"_

_"Man, I can feel his reiatsu from here."_

He scowled at this, not for the first time cursing his volatile and massive spiritual pressure. It was then that Momo motioned for him to come forward as she started speaking again.

"So, I present you with the new fifth squad Captain." At that Ichigo walked out from behind the pillar and stood in-front of the men. There was collective silence before he inclined his head at the group and started speaking.

"Hey, I'm your new captain: Ichigo Kurosaki." The silence returned once again before everyone started talking at the same time. Ichigo just scowled at the group and waited for them to do something else.

A squad member stepped forward and asked above the din of the crowd. "Are you _The _Ichigo Kurosaki? The substitute who was the hero of the winter war?" Before he could answer someone else did it for him.

"Of course his is, look at his hair and his Zanpakuto!" Whilst they continued to talk, Ichigo groaned and turned to Momo, talking to her under his breath.

"I didn't know I was called that." She giggled at his obvious uncomfortability at the attention he was getting before shrugging and turning her bright eyes back to the squad she had watched over since Aizen's defeat. Ichigo waited for a moment before his patience ran out and he shouted over the noise of the squad.

"ALL RIGHT, SHUT IT!" There was silence and a few of the squad members winced as Ichigo's spiritual pressure started flaring angrily, pushing on everyone in the room. Ichigo took a deep breath before resuming his scowl on the group.

"I don't know what kind of tales I've gained since I lost my powers but now that I am here, I don't want to be treated any differently than you would if someone else was captain." There was silence as he continued talking, calming down as he did so. " I haven't had to do anything like this before, so I would appreciate it if anyone could tell me something about what this squad...does." He finished lamely, berating himself for looking foolish in front of the squad.

One of the shinigami shouted out of the group to him."The fifth doesn't have a speciality like some others, but if you want to know more about training and schedules then Momo has practically run the squad for the past two years." She blushed at the compliment and Ichigo turned to her before thinking for a second and returning his attention to the group.

"Fine, I'll have a talk with your lieutenant and will inform you when I come to a decision, for now just continue doing whatever. I'm not into all that kneeling stuff so don't do it to me if you come to see me." He thought that just about covered it and motioned for Momo to follow him until they were out of the room, then when in the corridor he looked both ways before turning to Momo expectantly.

"If you want, I can show you to your quarters?" Ichigo thanked her and they walked towards Aizen's only living quarters, the awkward silence returning between them. Ichigo gave her a few looks but decided not to press the matter, since she was probably just uncomfortable around him because she hadn't met him before.

* * *

><p>When they arrived Momo opened the door and he walked into the room. It was quite dusty, and only furnished with the bare essentials it seemed. There was a desk in the middle with a book case on either side, with what looked like files in them. To the right was a room with a bed and night stand, it also had a toilet but not much else in the way of items. Momo responded to his unanswered question as he looked about.<p>

"They removed most of the things in this room when Aizen left the soul-society, you will have to buy anything else you want with your income." Ichigo noticed that her tone had changed to something that he couldn't identify, but was surprised at the last thing she said.

"I get paid?" The thought hadn't occurred to him, he had been so caught up in the rest of the duties of the position he forgot about money, not that he had any idea about where he would shop in the soul-society.

"Of course, you get a captains salary which should be ample, but you will also need to manage the expenditure of the division." She moved over to the bookshelf and took out a few of the dusty files, putting them on the desk.  
>"This is just one of your duties as a captain, you will also need to decide how the squad trains and what positions should be held be member if they are strong enough to be an officer. Also, you will have paperwork to do with the general admin of the squad including all out members in the living world and any new recruits."<p>

As she said each task she pulled a folder out of the bookshelf and stacked it up on the desk. As the pile grew Ichigo's face drained as he looked at the amout of work she had just put before him.

"I-I'm supposed to all of this?" he said in a croak, only now realising how much work he would have to do. Momo shook her head though and began to replace the files.

"No, as your lieutenant then I can help you in any way that you want, and usually that will be in doing some of your work if you can't do it or have other commitments." Ichigo let out a breath at this, relaxing his body and running a hand through his hair. Momo looked tentative and then hesitantly spoke up once more.

"Of course, if you want you could chose someone else from the squad to be your lieutenant." He turned to her in surprise, and gave her a warm smile, moving forward to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why would I do that? I'm kinda in over my head here and you've held this squad together without a captain, I won't be demoting anyone at the moment." She looked back at him and blushed slightly at this proximity before bowing and excusing herself.

Ichigo looked around the room and groaned to himself; he would have to clean all the rooms in his quarters and office before he would live here. There was dust on very surface, and he was still reeling from the amount of work that would be coming his way if what his lieutenant said was accurate, and it most likely was.

Pulling the chair out from behind the desk he sat down and put his arms behind his head, letting all of the recent changes to his life sink in. He was now a captain with a squad to train and guide, he was also, for lack of a better term, dead.

"Hey, _captain _strawberry."

A voice next to him made him jump and he nearly fell of his chair, catching himself as he slipped out of it. He jumped up, his face red with embarresment and anger, turning to shout at whoever it was, his mind not having caught up to the name yet. He saw the offenders smirking at him from behind his chair.

"The hell Renji, you bastard!" Ichigo growled, the red-headed lieutenant just laughing at him, whilst Rukia watched their fight from the window.

"Serves you right, Kurosaki, your a captain now aren't you. You should at least be able to sense reiatsu." Ichigo scoffed at this and pushed his face closer to his.

"Like that was ever your strong point; say my rooms a bit dark, mind lighting it up like you did before?" Renji growled at the reference to his poor kido use hueco mundo, pushing his face up to Ichigo's.

"Like your any better, you don't even know any kido, maybe your to stupid to learn it!"

"That's it, pineapple!" As he reached to grab renji's uniform, Rukia's voice interrupted them.

"Bakudo number one: Sai." Both Ichigo and Renji had their arms ripped to behind their back and, because of their positions, fell together onto the ground besides the desk.

"Dammit Rukia, why'd you have to interfere!" Ichigo shouted, struggling against the binding, trying to break it without raising his spiritual pressure to high. Renji was groaning as his head had hit the floor first.

"I just wanted to stop you two fighting by proving that you are both vastly inferior to me when using Kido." She continued to smirk at the pair and just as Ichigo was about to raise his spiritual pressure to brake free, they were interrupted by Hinamori returning.

"Captain, I've got the fold-" She stopped and stared in surprise at the scene before her. A captain and a lieutenant both bout by a low-level kido spell on the floor with Rukia looking triumphant above them.

"Hello, lieutenant Hinamori." Rukia said, hopping into the room and inclining her head towards her. This seemed to pull Momo out of her trance and she smiled back at Rukia.

"Please, I'm Momo, Rukia, you know I don't like people addressing me formally." Turning her attention back to the two on the floor she walked close to Ichigo. "I've got these files for you to look over today captain, since I've already done all the work for today, I thought that you might be able to look over these to see what to do when you start getting them tomorrow."

Ichigo nodded from his kneeling position and flared his reiatsu slightly to break free from the bindings. Standing up he took the folders and dropped them down onto his dusty desk.

"Thanks Hinamori, I'll give them a look when the room's clean." All of them looked around at the dusty room and Renji stood up, snickering, having broken free from the Kido at last.

"So your first duty as a captain is cleaning." Ichigo glared at him and was about to retort when Momo spoke up again, looking sadly at the room.

"If you want, I could ask some of the squad to come and help you? And I could help, then it won't take as long." Ichigo was about to agree when suddenly an idea popped into his head. This was Aizens old room, and he had beaten him using a lot of power. Perhaps he could beat this in the same way.

"No thanks, I just had an idea. Would you please open all the doors apart from the entrances?" She looked at him curiously then did as he said, opening all the adjoining rooms that were also dusty. As she did that, Ichigo slipped the folder into the draw of the desk and Rukia walked up to him, eyeing him sceptically.

"What are you planning?" He shot her a smirk in response and walked into his quarters, which was about in the middle of the set of adjoining rooms.

"That's it, all your rooms are open." All three of the people in the room looked at Ichigo curiously who continued to smirk as he pulled out Zangetsu. Rukia's eyes widened in realisation and she stepped forward to stop him.

"Ichigo, don-" She was cut of as Ichigo held his arm out in a familiar stance and chanted aloud.

"Bankai." There was a massive rush of reiatsu and wind blasted outwards from where he was standing. The dust was ripped out of the room and pushed through the open windows, however the doors also suffered at the massive power being unleashed and a few were ripped from their hinges and flung down the corridor.

As the last of the dust cleared out of the room, Ichigo stood with Zangetsu rested in his shoulders like he often did when it was in it's released form. The rooms were surprisingly undamaged, with the exception of the absence of a few doors and the chaotic rearranging of what little furniture there was.

"_Ichigo, please don't use my power for housekeeping again"_Zangetsu's voice echoed in his head, along with his hollow who seemed to be laughing at his plight. Ichigo silently apologised to his sword, not wanting to speak to it out loud with others present.

Rukia was the first to respond, walking up to him and shouting at him." Idiot! What do you think your doing? Get out of Bankai now!" Ichigo shrugged and dropped back into his regular state, looking around the now free of dust, but messy, rooms.

"I think that worked perfectly, so deal with it." Rukia glared at him and grabbed his uniform, pulling him down to her height.

"You are supposed to be an example, fool. Not someone who nearly destroys the barracks on his first day!" Rukia was fuming and here eyes were narrowed as the two stayed glaring at each other.

"I don't need you to tell me how to do my job, it's not like you could help me anyway." He snapped irritably, his temper rising quickly now.

"Oh really, well I should tell you that I have been ordered to help you anyway! So clearly the captain commander thinks you need help." Ichigo narrowed his eyes and ripped her hand of his uniform, his eyes furious.

"I don't care what _he_wants, I seem to remember him abandoning me without any contact, and your no better!" Her expression changed instantly to shock and hurt as she stepped back from Ichigo. The rest of the room was silent as they watched the scene unfold, Momo's eyes wide with shock and Renji's eyes furrowing as he looked at Ichigo.

Stepping towards Ichigo, who still looked pissed off and had not moved, he raised a hand to punch him. "Why you fucking-" Rukia put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Leave it alone Renji, this isn't your problem." She refused to look at either of them, instead looking at the floor, her eyes hidden from everyone in the room. Ichigo was torn between comforting her and his feeling of betrayal that had been building for two years. He thought it had been diminished when Rukia explained, but it was still there, like a crack in his mind. Rukia spoke to him, still not looking at him.

"I won't let our personal troubles get in the way of my mission, I was told that I will be teaching you Kido a few times a week. Then I will be reporting back on your progress, if you want to change instructor you will have to ask captain commander Yamamoto." Her voice was cold and empty as she spoke, deliberately void of any emotion. Ichigo hated it: it was to much like Byakuya for his liking.

"No...don't worry you can teach me." Ichigo said softly, feeling ashamed at himself now. Rukia just nodded and moved back to the window, and responded with her back turned to him.

"Very well, our first lesson will be tomorrow then, I'll meet you outside the barracks at four; you should have finished your paperwork by then, Captain Kurosaki." That stung Ichigo and he was helpless to undo what he had caused. Part of him even felt justified for causing her the same pain that he had suffered through, but he quickly pushed it away, disgusted with himself.

After Rukia had left, Renji turned on Ichigo eyeing him dangerously and grabbed him by his robe. Ichigo made no move to defend himself and promptly found himself lying against the wall after hitting it, Renji towering over him.

"What the fuck are you playing at Ichigo? Don't you think she suffered enough? You weren't the only one that was affected by being shut away from each other you selfish bastard." Renji sneered at him, and Ichigo looked at him with a mixture of confusion and irritation.

"What are you babbling on about?" He asked in an exasperated voice, already tired and feeling terrible about the days events. Renji growled in response and lowered his face, grabbing him by the hair and tilting Ichigo's head with a surprising about of strength.

"Well since your clueless I suppose I'll be kind and tell you a little fact: The day Rukia got the order to bring you here was the most alive I've seen her in two years, and today she was just happier because you were here. If you are just going to fucking take that away then I _will_kill you." With that final threat Ichigo ripped his hand of and stood up himself, his immense reiatsu heavy in the air.

Angrily he punched the lieutenant in the stomach, sending him flying through the wall and into the next room. Ichigo quickly shunpo'd to his side and stood over him, glaring menacingly.

"I don't want to fucking hurt her Renji, but two years of pain will not go away in a snap, and despite this new position I'm still not completely over being left in the dark without so much as a '_thanks for saving our asses'_." Taking a heavy breath Ichigo stepped back and looked away from the red head on the ground.

"Well if you don't want to hurt her you better try a bit harder, _Captain._" Renji said mockingly as he got to his feet, his hand dropping to Zabimaru discretely. Ichigo just walked through the new hole in the wall back to the office that Momo was standing in, watching the whole thing in silence.

" Renji...get the fuck out of my division. I'll work on things with Rukia tomorrow, I don't want to lose her now I'm here for good." Renji just growled in response and strode out of the door, turning down one of the long corridors.

Ichigo stood there for a second in silence with Momo, before he ran his hands through his hair and then slammed his fist onto the desk shouting out. "Fuck it!" There was silence once more until he collapsed into the chair, emotionally drained. His lieutenant took this opportunity to walk forward and looked at him with what appeared to be apprehension mixed with anger.

"I don't know if it's my place to say this bu-" Ichigo waved a hand to silence her and dropped his head into his hands, mumbling at her from behind them.

"At this point I just don't care Momo, say whatever you want to say." With that said, he looked up wearily and she leveld his gaze with an angry fire in her eyes.

"I know Rukia enough to see that she changed after you lost your powers. I don't know if she'd like me telling you bout you should know: she was much less passionate about her job without you and acted more like a robot than shinigami with feelings. Like lieutenant Abari told you, she is much happier with you around, but you seem to be angry over something neither of you could change." There was a definite hint of anger at the end, and coming from the girl Ichigo had thought to have a more cheerful and bubbly personality, it was definitely not something he took lightly.

"Thanks for telling me that but even if she didn't change it wouldn't excuse what I said, she didn't deserve that, least of all from me. I'll try and talk to her tomorrow and see if I can make it up to her, and try and figure out why I'm so fucking angry about it." He dropped his head back into his hands, missing her nod of the head.

Momo frowned at him; he didn't look like someone who had just got what every shinigami strived for, nor did he look like the hero of the winter war. He didn't look like he had killed Aizen. She fought back a shudder at this thought; this was the man who had killed the person she had admired beyond all else.

Pushing the impulse to attack his defenceless form she frowned deeper at the thought: she would have to face him about it sometime, or else she could blow on him at an inappropriate time. Maybe Toushiro would help her. For now she turned to walk out of the room and got to the door before his voice stopped him.

"Thanks for all your help by the way lieutenant Hinamori, I''ll make sure that I do this squad proud. Please ask me if you want any help or something." He had looked at her with gratitude on his face whilst speaking and now slumped down behind the desk, clearly drifting off into thought.

"No problem sir, remember to look over the papers I gave you." Ichigo just nodded in acknowledgement and Momo left him to his thoughts, wondering how to approach him on the subject of Aizen.

After she left Ichigo was left alone in the room, sighing, he pulled out the filed that had escaped the '_cleaning'_in the draw and laid them out in-front of him. The evening closed in as he sat looking over the files, only half paying attention to them, his mind still mulling over Rukia and how he would go about quelling the feeling of abandonment still brewing beneath the surface.

It was late into the night before he finally dragged himself to the next room and dropped onto the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

(A/N) D: Ichigo can be so thoughtless sometimes : Oh and thanks to _AllieOutOfWonderland_ For giving me the heads-up on that latest manga issue: if you haven't read it then go read it now! Sorry for any spelling grammar errors, I'm trying to get rid of them all xD

Other than that all I can say is thanks for the reviews, and if you keep it up I'll try and keep up the regular updates for as long as I can xD


	5. A lesson in Kido

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Being a captain was not all it was cracked up to be. This was what Ichigo had decided by the time he had finished his paperwork for the day. Even with Momo helping him and his time spent looking over her work the previous night he was not prepared for the sheer monotony of endless amounts of requests and details that needed his attention.

"Your writing in the wrong section Ichigo." Momo pointed out: it had taken a while for him to convince her to call him Ichigo at least in private. He just grunted and scratched out the offending writing and moved to the final piece of the pile.

"Finally, man that was horrible" He groaned, piling the completed papers in the corner of his desk and leaning back into his chair.

"It should take less time when you get use to doing it, but I'm surprised we got as little as we did considering you just started..." When Ichigo heard her he just groaned again and leaned forward, dropping his head onto the desk. Momo gave him an exasperated look before she started to clean away the files on his desk, taking some of them into her office. As she left she called out to him;

"Don't forget about your lesson with Kuchiki today." Ichigo didn't respond, he honestly didn't know what he was going to do about that. He had been thinking intermittently about how he could remedy the situation and all he could come up with is that he had been a prick. It wasn't helping him.

Ichigo fell into a light sleep whilst he was thinking about the upcoming meeting with Rukia, so didn't notice when four o'clock came around and Momo bought her to the door of his office. The door was still missing and the two walked in without noticing his state.

"Captain, Kuchiki is here to see you..." the lieutenant said formally. When she got no response she glanced at Rukia who was looking hesitantly yet curiously at Ichigo's slumped form.

"Captain Kurosaki?" She tried again, moving closer to him. She stopped when she noticed that he was in-fact sleeping. Huffing in irritation she raised her voice, shouting at the sleeping man; "Wake up!"

The effect was immediate and Ichigo shot out of chair, knocking all the files that Momo had not taken onto the floor. The three watched in silence as the last papers drifted to the floor, Ichigo just sat in disbelief. Rukia was fighting not to laugh at him and Momo was staring with an open mouth at the mess he had created.

"Why?" Ichigo croaked out, lamenting the chaos he had created by accident, Momo put her head in her hand and just pointed out the door.

"Go to your lesson with Rukia, I'll clean up your mess." He nodded and quickly escaped the room, Rukia still silently laughing at him.  
>as they walked down the corridor. As she calmed down they descended into an awkward silence, Ichigo wondering how he should go about apologising.<p>

"Uh, how are you, Rukia?" Here response was short and cold.

"Fine thank you, how are you?" He had no doubt that she was just asking out of politeness but nether-the-less he responded.

"Okay I suppose, just tired from all that paperwork." They turned a corner, finding the stairs that dropped to the ground floor.

"Yes, I'm sure it must be very tiring." There was a hint of sarcasm in her cold tone and Ichigo scowled at her, but was secretly happy that she was getting back to her old self. Silence filled the gap between them again as they exited the barracks. He tried to think of some way to get her out of her mood that he may have created.

'_Who am I kidding, I was a bit of an idiot there'_ Ichigo finally couldn't stand it and grabbed her, turning her to face him.

"Fuck this, I'm sorry damn it Rukia." He stared into her cold, violet eyes for a moment until he couldn't take it any more and looked down at the floor. She continued to watch him as he squirmed under her cold eyes.

Apologies where not something Ichigo usually gave out lightly, and he hopes that she would recognise this and not just pass it off as a feeble attempt to appease her. The truth was Ichigo was finding it hard to think of how to apologise and not act like a sap. This was the best middle ground he could come up with.

"Maybe you should think about other peoples feelings next time...idiot." She gave him a small smile on the last word. Ichigo looked up and smiled warmly; her eyes no longer cold but containing a multitude of emotions passing to fast for him to identify.

"That's why I have you midget, listen forget what I said before, I'll never lump you in with them again, besides your only doing your duty." Rukia blinked before smirking at him.

"So will you stop acting like a moody baby now?" Ichigo scowled and crossed his arms.

"Shut it, short-stuff. Anyway aren't you supposed to be teaching me today?" She nodded and turned, jumping deftly into the air.

"Hurry up, _captain_, you wouldn't want to be left behind would you?" Smirking back at her, Ichigo jumped into the air quickly catching up to her as they hopped across the rooftops of the seireitei. He relished in the freedom he hadn't had a chance to experience in two years. It was just like his old hollow slaying trips with Rukia, the two of them free.

They travelled in silence, but it had returned to the comfortable silence of two people simply enjoying the others company, rather than the oppressive silence of late. It was not long before they reached their destination, Rukia stopping and turning to face him.

"This is the largest open space within the seireitei, and since it's you I'm teaching I thought it would be appropriate." Ichigo scowled, before looking around at the landscape. He recognised the barren wasteland: Sokyoku hill. Memories rushed back to him; saving Rukia, fighting Byakuya and charging at Aizen.

He heard a sound behind him and turned in surprise to see the red-headed sixth division lieutenant looking at him with distaste. Instead of returning it, Ichigo smirked at him shouting over to him.

"Yo pineapple, how's your stomach." Renji was about to respond angrily but before doing so looked between the two. He noticed the calm attitude and most of all Rukia looked happy again, that was enough for him to correct himself before he spoke.

"Who are you calling pineapple, strawberry?" The tone was joking rather than aggressive and the new captain just smirked wider at him, nodding before turning back to Rukia.

"So, your teaching kido right?"

"Yes, but Renji will be tagging along every few lessons when we cover something that he hasn't done." Ichigo nodded, glad that at least he wouldn't be with them all the time, and he could get some time to relax alone with Rukia.

'_Not that I need to be alone with her'_He thought quickly, but thought he heard his inner hollow scoff at him. Ignoring him he turned back to Rukia who had walked up to him and Renji.

"Today we will be covering the very basics; now Renji will have done this of course but improving it will help all aspects of Kido, especially for someone like Renji." Ichigo snickered and Renji cried out to her.

"Hey, at least I'm better than him, and he's a captain!"

"Ichigo didn't go through the shinigami academy for six years like you did." Ichigo smirked over at him, feeling happy to hear her defending him. Renji just grumbled in response but was ignored by Rukia, who pulled three, fist sized, glass balls out of nowhere. Ichigo recognised them as being similar to the one he had used when entering the soul-society for the first time.

"This is a ball that is sensitive to reiatsu, and will glow when it is poured into it." To demonstrate, she gave one to Renji and the other to Ichigo before putting both hands on either side of the ball. A second later the ball started to emit a soft glow and Rukia looked at both of them.

"The brightness will depend on how much reiatsu you put into it, your first task is to make your ball glow with an equivalent brightness to mine." Renji and Ichigo looked at each other, the silent challenge was issued and they both turned their attention to the balls.

"Renji you should be able to manage this. Ichigo, you need to remember how you controlled it when you first entered the soul-society." Ichigo thought back to it and Ganju's words came back to him.

_"Imagine a circle in your mind, as black as possible and as dark as possible, then picture yourself jumping into it.. This is a basic imaging technique for getting in touch with your spiritual pressure"_

Closing his eyes he prepared to do it, just as he was about to Rukia's voice interrupted him: "Renji, that's pathetic." He opened his eyes and turned to see a small flickering in the red-heads ball, but it was no where near as bright or stable as Rukia's. He snickered at him and the lieutenant turned and growled in response.

"At least I tried, I see you haven't even made a light, yet Ichigo!" Ichigo scowled and looked back at his ball.

"Come on Ichigo, it's your turn now." Rukia urged, the two watching him as he close his eyes and placed both his hands on the small ball, fingertips gripping the smooth surface.

The wind picked up slightly and Ichigo repeated what he had done in the soul-society a few years ago. There was nothing for a few seconds, and Renji was about to jeer at him when a blue light exploded around his body and the sphere shone brightly between them. It continued to get brighter and Ichigo ignored the shouting of the two besides him until there was another rush of wind and the ball shattered in his hands.

"Dammit Ichigo, you have too much reiatsu!" Rukia shouted, blinking rapidly to try and remove the retina burn that had been left on here eyes.

"Where you trying to blind us?" Renji yelled, rubbing his eyes from his position on the floor where he had been knocked by Ichigo's sudden burst of power.

"What else am I supposed to do? I used the same technique as before..." he grumbled looking absently at the few shards that remained on the floor. Rukia sighed , looking from him to the mess on the floor.

"What technique did you use to control your energy?"

"Uh, I was told to imagine a heavy black circle and jump into it-" Rukia shouted out, interrupting him mid sentence.

"Then no wonted that happened! That would only work if you didn't have a stupid amount of reiatsu, you need to use a different method...hmmm" She stopped in thought for a second before continuing. "Okay, imagine this when you try again. Picture a river: that is the centre of your power, and to control it make it run faster for more and slow it to a trickle for less." Ichigo nodded and she gave him her sphere.

Standing he tried her technique, his face contorted in concentration. Slowly the ball started to light up and get brighter. Ichigo opened his eyes but kept focused on the ball until it reached a similar brightness to Rukia's.

"Looks like those six years where a waste after all, Renji." Rukia joked, watching proudly as Ichigo managed to hold the ball at a stable level.

"Oh shut it, just because I'm not a freak who learns everything stupidly fast." Renji snarled. Ichigo turned to shout at him, but the moment he took his focus away from the ball the air grew heavy with reiatsu and the light shot up. A moment later Ichigo found himself flat on his back, bits of the glass sphere lying around the area.

"What where you saying Rukia?" Renji snickered, laughing at the boy as he got up, scowling, and dusted himself of.

"At least I did it right once! How you became a lieutenant I'll never know." Renji stepped forward, shaking his fist.

"Why you arrogant prick!" Ichigo just scoffed at the man, tilting his head towards him.

"That's Captain prick to you, can't you see the haori or are you blind as well as stupid?" Zabimaru whipped out of the sheath, and the irate lieutenant pointed at the captain.

"That's it! Howl, Zabi-" Before he could finish another voice interrupted him.

"Bakudo number nine: Horin!" Both males looked towards the petite female as a large orange tendril burst out from her hands. Before they could react they where both tied together, the rope-like object tight around their waists.

"What the hell!" "Let us go, Midget!" The rope tightened and Rukia just smirked at the two caught in it.

"Maybe this will teach you to stop being so aggressive!" Ichigo scoffed and she glared at him.

"Like your one to talk." he spat got out as pair rolled over the dirt together.

"Shut up Ichigo! Your making it worse." He tried to respond, but his face was currently shoved against the dirt and all he could do was make aggravated noises. Finally he managed to shift his head to one side and shouted at her.

"Let me go now Rukia, that's an order dammit." Rukia scowled as he pulled rank on her, and tightened the ropes around him.

"I don't recall you ever following orders much Ichigo, so I'll take a leaf out of your book just this once." Ichigo groaned and Renji continued to struggle against the bindings. Eventually Ichigo lost his temper and shouted out at her.

"If you don't let me go this instant, then I WILL go bankai on your ass!" She felt him start to raise his reiatsu and decided that having Renji biforcated by kido was not what she was going for really. The ropes disappeared, and the two shinigami shot to their feet.

"I never want to be that close to you again." Renji said in disgust, before Ichigo could retort a massive spiritual pressure appeared, moving quickly towards them.

"What's that..." Ichigo started, before he saw a familiar yellow figure shooting across the sky towards him. "Oh god no." he croaked out, but it was to late.

"Your finally back!" came the booming voice of Kenpachi as he slammed onto the top of the cliff , a familiar pink shape clinging to his shoulder.

"Hey, Icchy! I'm glad your back, Kenny was missing you!" The idea of Kenpachi missing him was enough to make him snicker, had it not been for the fact that he was now standing in front of him.

"Quiet Yachiru, I didn't miss him, I missed a good fight! He started at Ichigo with blood-lust in his eyes. "I would have had you right after the captains meeting but old man Yama made me promise not to start anything on the first day."

Ichigo could have sworn that the berserker was pouting as he said that.

"But not any more! Now get out your Zanpakuto." Kenpachi raised his jagged blade and Ichigo took a step back.

"No way, find someone else to fight you maniac!" Kenpachi only laughed and prepared to jump at the poor captain.

'_Shit, I'm here permenantly now, I can't avoid him forever. I suppose if this is the only way...'_He rapidly thought, looking warily at the jagged blade.

"I've been waiting for this Ichigo, don't think your getting away now!" With that he lunged and Ichigo used flash-step to dodge, appearing besides Rukia.

"We'll have to cut our lesson short!" He hissed to her but was gone the next instant as Kenpachi had turned to see him.

"Stop running you coward!" Ichigo groaned and dodged the swing, jumping back he held out his hand to stop him. Kenpachi stopped for a second and growled at his toy.

"FINE! I'll fight you, but can we do it somewhere else? And I will have to give you a few rules before we start." Kenpachi grunted in irritation but sensed that this was the best he was going to get from the boy.

"Whatever, we'll fight at the eleventh squads barracks in ten minutes." He grinned wildly and simply hopped over the edge of the cliff, Yachiru giggling madly. Renji stepped forward after a moment of silence passed between them.

"You know at some point I think I envied you, now...well good luck." Ichigo just scowled at him and wondered just how dead he was going to end up. His morbid thoughts where interrupted by Rukia as she walked past him.

"Well, Renji, lets go and spread the news: this is going to be a fight people want to see."

"Hey wait, Ruk-" That was all he got out before she and Renji disappeared, each going in different directions, clearly wasting no time in 'spreading the news'.

Sighing, Ichigo decided to make the best of a bad situation the only way he could. Using flash-step he quickly found himself back at the squad five barracks and started searching for his lieutenant.

* * *

><p>"Lieutenant Hinamori! Oit, where are you! Hinamori!" He heard a scuffling behind him and turned around to find her, red faced behind him.<p>

"Y-yes Captain Ichigo?" She stuttered and looked around nervously.

"What's wrong?" She stiffened and responded in a higher pitched voice.

"Nothing, Captain." Ichigo shrugged it of and Momo let out a mental sigh of relief: after she had finished the paper work she had gone to see Toshiro and only just got back. She didn't want to have to explain that they had gone for a walk since he had finished his work as well, no matter how bored he seemed.

"Okay well I've got something I need you to do." Momo calmed down a bit and stood ready for his orders, wondering what he could want. "I need you to gather up the squad and take them to the eleventh squad barracks."

"Uh okay, but why sir?" She questioned, curious as to what was going on.

"I have been _persuaded _to have a fight with their captain, and since I am I would like the squad to observe as I am sure his wail be and a bunch of others. They might be able to learn something from the fight since I haven't had a chance to plan any training yet." He finished with an absent wave of his hand and looked down at her.

"Your fighting Captain Zaraki again?" Ichigo sighed and nodded.

"If I don't he will knock down the wall to my office and just demand it, so I may as well take advantage of it I suppose." Momo nodded, feeling somewhat sorry for her new captain and went to round up the squad. Ichigo stood there for a second before he checked the time and jumped off the balcony, deciding to waste time by walking to the barracks.

* * *

><p>He watched as a few shinigami passed him in a hurry, clearly going to the same place he was. He caught a snippet of their conversation as they passed him.<p>

"So the new captain is fighting Kenpachi? Is he mad or what."

"Didn't you hear yet? The new captain is the old substitute shinigami."A third member spoke up.

"Yeah, the guy who defeated Aizen, he was in the Seireitei monthly magazine after he did it, but I can't remember what he looked like." Ichigo decided to leave before he was spotted and quickly flash-stepped across the roofs, reaching the 11th squad barracks and instantly spotting the huge crowd surrounding what looked like an arena. He scanned it for a moment before jumping down into the centre, opposite to the other figure in the ring.

"Ah, your ready now, I've been looking forward to this Ichigo." Ichigo pulled Zangetsu out of its wrappings, the white cloth shrinking down after it came loose.

"Yeah, but first I'm telling you my conditions." Kenpachi rolled his eyes but didn't object. "First, I will not fight you every time you ask, I will fight you only once a year unless I say otherwise. Secondly, you aren't allowed to kill or dismember me during the fight and I obviously won't do it to you either." The second condition seemed to irritate him but he just snorted and drew out his Zanpakuto.

"Fine, whatever, lets get this started with a warm-up shall we?" Ichigo smirked and the two captains with released Zanpakuto stood, waiting in the moments silence before the battle began.

"Then lets do this...KENPACHI!" As Ichigo finished in a yell, he kicked of the ground, shooting towards the grinning captain.

Their swords met and dust billowed around them, the audience watching silently. Ichigo pushed back and swung again, being parried down by Kenpachi's chipped weapon. He took the opportunity and swung at Ichigo's chest only to be blocked by the bottom of the blade.

Still grinning madly, Kenpachi continued to slice at Ichigo in an unrelenting assault. The orange haired captain was on the defensive, only blocking blows and loosing ground.

'_I can't keep letting him push me back, I won't!'_Ichigo felt the blade slice a thin path across his chest and jumped back, not stopping as he roared and charged back into the fray.

"Getsuga tensho!" He screamed, firing the huge black wave of reiatsu at Kenpachi. The captain lifted his sword and slashed through the attack with an effort and jumped at Ichigo.

He brought Zangetsu down heavily on his opponent, Kenpachi blocking but his feet destroying the ground around him as their feet once again found the ground. Smirking Ichigo continued his assault, striking from every angle and little by little drawing blood from the other captain.

With a mad laugh, Kenpachi swung his unnamed sword at him, and Ichigo dropped down onto his hand bringing his legs round and sweeping out the feet of the gigantic man. Before the dust cleared from his fall Ichigo swung at him, meeting resistance in the dust. He pulled back and stood still as Kenpachi rose from where he had fallen, a few drops of blood dripping from his wounds.

"Well, it seems you know how to make a fight even better than before!" Kenpachi laughed, his long sword resting on the ground. " I think it's about time we get the real fight started, don't you?"

Ichigo smirked and flash-stepped back, holding out Zangetsu with bith hands towards him. "Bankai!" He shouted and reiatsu filled the air, some of the weaker members of the audience struggling to stand under the immense spiritual pressure.

"Tensa Zangetsu" He chanted softly. Whilst he finished gathering reiatsu, Kenpachi ripped of his eye-patch, throwing it into the crowd where it was caught by Yachiru. The effect was immediate, and he started glowing with what looked like vicious yellow fire. As his black reiatsu cleared, Ichigo stood in a similar fashion, his captains haori on over his regular Bankai outfit, and black flames burning across his body.

"I never fought you in bankai did I? Oh well, I've been training just for this moment!" Ichigo just watched him for a moment and then disappeared, using shunpo to reappear behind him, slashing him neatly across the back. Kenpachi stood a step forward but steadied himself, yellow reiatsu still radiating from him.

Ichigo repeated the movement, only to find his sword blocked by Kenpachi's. " Don't think you can do that again, that's just what that stuck-up prick Byakuya thought he could try when I fought him." The attacker growled, irritated at being likened to Byakuya and swung again and again, trading blows with Kenpachi.

His extra speed didn't seem to phase Kenpachi as he blocked and slashed at Ichigo, never faltering as the black blade found his flesh and drew blood. Again and again he sliced across his flesh, however Kenpachi never backed down even for a moment, he just laughed louder and suddenly struck as Ichigo in his left arm, deeply wounding him. Ichigo gasped and jumped back from him, breathing heavily as blood ran down his weakened arm.

"Is that it? I thought you where stronger than that Ichigo, maybe I should just make you show me your power!" Ignoring the numerous deep wounds, Kenpachi held his sword out and gripped it with both hands in-front of him, his reiatsu shooting up as he unleashed his full power.

"Fine, I guess I'll have to end this quickly." Ichigo said to the bloody captain, raising a hand up to his face and pausing for a moment, before he pulled on his hollow mask. The effect was a crushing spiritual pressure on all those watching, now more than half the audience where forced to their knees as the two titans faced off.

"So, this is what you've been hiding from me...Excellent!" Kenpachi roared, laughing wildly as he looked at him. Then in the next moment the two where shooting towards each other; Ichigo surrounded with black and Kenpachi with yellow. As they collided a massive explosion exploded around them, the arena disintegrating beneath them and the audience being blown back fifty feet or so before it stopped, and the dome of energy dissipated.

Everyone stood in anticipation as the dust cleared and two silhouettes where visible. Kenpachi looked down at his opponent, and smiled widely. His sword was sliced into Ichigo's side, but his smile faltered slightly as he felt the tinge of pain in his stomach. Looking down, he saw Ichigo's blade burred to the hilt in him and protruding out of his back, giving a small chuckle, the wounded berserker coughed up a little blood and fell backwards.

Ichigo staggered and dropped out of bankai, his hollow mask also dropping to the ground around him. Pushing Zangetsu into the ground he used it for support for a moment, before he collapsed onto his stomach, losing conciseness as he hit the ground.

(A/N) Okay, so before anyone says that Ichigo got of easy, it's not quite over yet :P Aside from that I don't intend on putting a great deal of angsty stuff in this fic, normally it will be in to serve a purpose, and I will say now that the next arc will have some in it from time to time, but it's all relevant to the story so I hope you can bear with it if you don't like it.

Thanks for all those who have reveiw'd as always, it's a big help!

Also, sorry if the fight scene is not that good, it's my first one, I'll be happy for any advice on them :P


	6. Recovery and confrontation

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

The tenth squad captain was sitting in his office with his long time friend, the fifth squad lieutenant. He was contemplating her request; wondering if this would be acceptable, if it was worth the risk to help his friend. She wasn't looking at him, she kept her gaze on her lap, fiddling with her hands as he staring at her with piercing blue eyes. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a second before coming to a decision.

"I will help you Momo, but I will be watching and if this goes to far, I will stop it." Despite his cold tone, Momo looked up with gratitude shining in her eyes.

"I knew I could count on you Shiro! I just need to get this of my chest once and for all." Smiling she hopped of her chair and walked out of the room, almost bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.

"At least call me Toshiro..." He grumbled as she left, turning his attention back to his paperwork, and that left over by his lazy lieutenant."

'_I hope you know what your doing, Momo. I don't want to see you hurt again.'_

* * *

><p>"I can't believe he got himself stabbed. Again!" Grumbled a voice to his right, with a deeper one following it.<p>

"Well it wasn't bad and he won didn't he, besides he looks fine." He heard the sound of someone growling and the second voice stopped..

"He still got a sword through him, why is he so reckless...stupid, fool." Ichigo recognised the voice at last and with an small grin on his face, opened his eyes to look at the speaker.

"Is that the sound of a Kuchiki caring I here?" He croaked out. He looked around the room seeing who was there: Rukia was sitting with a surprised but relieved expression, Renji appeared to have been silenced by her, but was looking relieved none-the-less. Unohana also stood, watching his with her usual smile, the silence was broken by Rukia shouting.

"Why did you get yourself stabbed again, you fool!" Raising a fist threateningly, her posture demanding a good explanation. Ichigo could only smirk at her.

"Awww, so it was you were worried for me!" As the words left his mouth Rukia snarled but refrained from punching him, settling on glaring at him instead.

"As if, but it would look bad if the new captain accidentally impaled himself in a duel on his second day, don't you think?"Ichigo gave a small shrug and continued to smirk at her.

"Say what you want, midget, but it sounds like-" He was cut of as she raised her leg and kicked him in his side. Ichigo yelped in pain and settled in simply glaring at the now gloating shinigami.

"Ms. Kuchiki, I'm going to have to ask you not to hurt my patients more than they already are." Unohana spoke up for the first time, still smiling as Rukia scowled but sat down. "And captain Kurosaki, I would rather you didn't get hurt again any-time soon, I've had you in here enough times." It was said as a joke, but Ichigo couldn't help but feel a bit scared by the calmness of her voice.

"Yes, ma'am" he couldn't help but be respectful, and sensed that he wasn't the only one that was afraid of her.

Unohana gave a curt nod and left the room, leaving the three shinigami alone. It was then that Renji stood up and spoke. "Well I've got work to do, your lucky you've got a lieutenant Ichigo, catch you two later. Oh and good fight Ichigo."

"Yeah, see you around pineapple." With a wave and a smirk Renji was gone, leaving the two alone.

"I still can't believe you let yourself get stabbed again." Rukia grumbled, sounding exasperated. Ichigo turned to her and cocked an eyebrow.

"I seem to remember that you've stabbed me before."

"Yes, but it gave you your powers didn't it? And besides you stabbed me when I was taken over by Homura and Shizuku." Her voice was softer now, Ichigo knew it still pained her to talk about the two who were almost her children.

"Well, I don't want to do that again any time soon, once was enough." Ichigo replied gently, he too didn't like to remember the time, however brief, when Rukia was lost to him. Though the event helped him realise the connection between them, even now he didn't understand it truly.

"Maybe you'll stop getting yourself stabbed then? " Ichigo chuckled and sat up in the bed, groaning slightly.

"Maybe my opponents should stop going for my gut?" Rukia smirked back at him and stood up, ready to leave with him.

"If your done healing, and you should be by now, you've got work to do." He chuckled and stood up, only wincing as a small pain shot out form the bandaged wound.

"So, how long have I been out?" He asked conversationally, stripping of his hospital robe as she walked towards the door.

"Oh, just a day or so. Unohana wanted you to rest and-" She stopped as she turned round and saw him, topless, looking around for his uniform. "Ichigo!"

"What?" He questioned, turning around and only making the situation worse. Rukia's cheeks were flushed with red as she turned around.

"You should have told me if you were changing." She squeaked, embarrassed by the carelessness in his actions. He chuckled deeply behind her and found his black robe and captains haori at the side, slipping them on before walking up to her.

"It's not right for you to be so undressed in my presence, especially since you have healed now!

"It's nothing midget, I wouldn't have thought you'd get so flustered over me shirtless, I've been injured plenty of times like that." Rukia wouldn't tell him that most of those times he had bandages covering the majority of his chest, not just a small strip across his stomach.

"Shut it, strawberry it's indecent for someone to see you like that." Ichigo just snorted and walked past her, about to walk out the door when he saw someone step in-front of him.

"Captain Kurosaki, I need you to come with me." The voice of the small tenth division captain rung through the corridor and Ichigo groaned, certain that he was in trouble for his fight. Rukia's expression changed to a smirk and she walked past him, calling out:

"Sucks to be you, 'berry." before disappearing from sight and leaving him alone to deal with the stoic captain. Ichigo sighed and nodded to Hitsugaya, motioning for him to lead the way.

"So what's up Toshiro?" He asked in a bored tone, eliciting a growl from the smaller captain.

"I've told you before Kurosaki, it's Captain Hitsugaya to you!" Ichigo just snorted and repeated himself.

"Whatever, how have things been?" Toshiro clenched his jaw, trying to stay calm around the infuriating boy. He honestly liked him over all, and was glad that he had been chosen to be a captain. But his casual and informal nature was really, really irritating to the prodigy.

"Fine thank you, but in answer to your previous question; this is not what you thing it is, you are not in trouble for your fight with Captain Zaraki, it was inevitable really." This peaked Ichigo's interest so he decided to push farther.

"Really? So what do you want with me?" Hitsugaya responded without looking at him, turning down one of the many narrow paths in the Seireitei.

"I am doing a favour for a friend, and it was best now you are in a weakened condition." This gave Ichigo a shock, and he looked at Toshiro nervously.

"Uh, what do you mean? Why is it better if I'm weak?" He got another answer without being looked at.

"Because you are less likely to hurt them." That really didn't bode well for Ichigo, so he simply stopped asking questions and decided that he would deal with whoever it was when he got their. He wasn't that weak, he was just tired and sore after the fight.

They arrived at a small courtyard and the 10th squad captain stopped. " Go to the middle." was all he said, before he flash-stepped over to one side, clearly getting out of the way of whatever was about to happen.

Tentatively he did as he was told, his hand itching to reach for Zangetsu, but he held of just in case he was mistaken about this. Suddenly heard a noise and stopped, slightly dropping into a fighting stance and preparing for who ever it was. A figure came around the corner, sword drawn and his eyes widened.

"Hinamori?" He shouted out, taking a step towards her. He stopped when he noticed that her face was hard, completely different from her usual caring appearance. Her voice was equally as cold as she spoke.

"Yes, Captain, I brought you here to settle this." Ichigo looked confused, and glanced at Toshiro before looking back er her.

"Settle what? What are you on about, Hinamori?" Her face remained hard as she looked him in the eye.

"Sosuke Aizen" He looked at her in shock.

"What, I don-" He started when she cut him off.

"I know Aizen was bad, and I know he had to be stopped, but...you did it, you killed him!" There was emotion in her voice now, and her cold mask fell of, revealing her true feelings: There was anger, and pain clear in her eyes, and she was staring at him.

"I admired him so much, he was the person I looked up to most, and you took him away!" She screamed, pointing her Zanpakuto at him. " So I have to try and avenge him, even if he didn't deserve it, if only to say I tried!" With that she lunged at him.

Ichigo stood still for a moment as she charged him, part of him getting why she was doing this; because she had to. No matter what Aizen had done she had to do this one things, and then maybe she could be free of him for good. Jumping out of the way of her blade, Ichigo shook the bindings of Zangetsu and held It at his side.

"Why did he have to die?" She shouted at him, her eyes watering as she searched him for an answer. Ichigo responded coldly.

"He betrayed the soul-society, he betrayed you. He deserved to die." Hinamori's face contorted in rage and she spoke to her Zanpakuto.

"Snap, Tobiume!" Pink reiatsu enveloped the blade for a second before it emerged, two prongs sticking out of the blade. Ichigo remained still, waiting for her to use her shikai ability, having not seen it before.

Letting out a cry she swung her blade and as she did so a fireball grew at the first prong, it gathered size at the second and was then released, flying towards Ichigo. He blocked the attack with Zangetsu and dodged her next attack, landing in the air. Deciding that this as a good a time as any, Ichigo tried to get out her true power by goading her.

"What was that Lieutenant, I'm over here. I would have thought Aizen trained you better than that..." She let out a sriek of rage and a larger fireball was flung towards him, which he effortlessly dodged.

This time she was ready for him and he heard her voice cry out; "Bakudo 61: Rikujokero!" He stopped as six beams of light slammed into him, holding him in place as she swung her sword back for another attack.

He inwardly smirked as she started to fight properly, before he raised his reiatsu high enough to break the rods and leaned back, the fire just singing his robes. Growling in frustration Momo raised her hand towards him.

"Hado 31: Shakkaho!" A familiar red energy grew and launched form her hand, racing towards Ichigo.

He blocked it quickly and jumped to the side as a fireball nearly collided with him. She continued throwing both at him, forcing him to pay more attention and growing more and more enraged as she continued to miss him. Finally growing impatient she flash-stepped behind him, firing a ball directly into his back.

Ichigo wasn't ready for her sudden move and the ball burnt off the back of his uniform, leaving a large scorch mark on his back as he was pushed away from her with the force of the attack. Nether the less he just smirked and watched her as she stood in the clearing smoke, breathing heavily.

"Good move Hinamori, If I had been weaker it might have seriously damaged me, but as it stands...you owe me a new captains haori." He knew being cocky would only enrage her more, and he was right.

Looking at him with fire in her eyes she raised her hand and said: "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Hado 63: Raikoho!"

Ichigo was ready this time, and raised his blade above his head as the large jet of yellow reiatsu blasted out. As it approached he swung his blade down and roared out.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" A black wave tore through the air to meet his lieutenant's attack. They stopped at each other, Ichigo matching her power and holding her at bay. Momo cried out in desperation as her attack was blocked and Ichigo tried to see what else she had.

"Is that is? I killed Aizen Momo, it's my fault he's dead, and you've lost everyone, not even Hitsugaya trusts you now!" When her oldest friends name was mentioned, Momo felt an even deeper anger stir within her ans she screamed at her captain.

"YOUR WRONG!" There was a surge of power and Ichigo's eyes widened as he felt his attack over taken and the energy hit his chest, burning into his flesh as he was shoved into the hard floor of the courtyard, his singed back taking yet more abuse.

Toshiro watched pensively, starting to think that it might be time for him to interrupt the fight. Evidently Ichigo wanted to help her, but he wasn't sure if the goading was doing what he wanted it to do. He watched Momo land and stagger ever so slightly, the exertion of using her high-level spells clearly showing, she started to walk towards her captain, Tobiume dragging along the floor in her hand.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile inwardly as he lay in pain from his lieutenant's attack: he had seen she had deeper power than she knew and could get control of it. Groaning slightly he raised his abused body and walked out to stand before her exhausted form. She raised her blade to him and Ichigo stabbed his down into the floor.

"You've got more power than you know Hinamori, you just need to control it." But she wasn't ready to listen yet and charged towards him, swinging her sword lazily. Sighing he moved back slightly, dodging the poor attack.

Growling, she raised her hand and said in a voice horse from shouting: "Bakudo 4: Hainawa." Ichigo allowed the attack to bind him and stood watching her, without a sword, defenceless.

"What now? I've no defence and I am at your mercy, will you kill me?" She raised her shikai state sword to him, stopping it a few inches away from his neck. The girl was shuddering, caught in indecision as she had her idol's killer at her mercy.

Ichigo spoke softly to her, trying to turn her away from her despair." Do you want to kill me? Is It worth it Momo, is _he_worth it, the man who lied to you about everything. What about your friends, what about Toshiro, would he want you to kill me?"

Her blade was shaking harder now, tears streaming down her face as his words ran through her mind. '_Aizen...he was everything, but he took everything as well. He tried to kill everyone- tried to kill Toshiro! Is he worth this?'_ She looked at Ichigo through eyes blurry with tears and saw her new captain waiting for _her_ to make the decision, his life in _her_hands. He had dealt with pain, with hate, and here he was. Helping her. If she killed him, what purpose would it serve? She remembered Rukia when he was gone, so...empty. Was Aizen worth that.

Shaking more than ever, she closed her eyes and stood for a moment, absorbed in her thoughts before a single word passed her lips.

"...No" After she said it, the bindings on Ichigo were released and Momo dropped to her knees, her Zanpakuto falling next to her and reverting to its sealed state. Ichigo smiled at her for a second before looking over to where the 10th squad captain was eagerly waiting and nodding, signalling that it was okay for him to approach.

He was there in an instant, and Ichigo turned away and took a few steps to give them some privacy. The young captain put his hand on her shoulder, not wanting to look to soft on her, but that idea was blown away when she pushed off the ground and hugged the small man tightly, crying into his haori.

"T-Toshiro, I couldn't-couldn't do it, s-sorry, you were right, all o-of you were." Toshiro just looked at her as he stood stiffly, uncomfortable with the contact for the moment. It took a few seconds before he relaxed slightly and padded her on the back softly. She smiled at him softly and hugged him again before letting him go.

"Ichigo is right, Aizen isn't worth losing anyone over, especially not you Shiro." Toshiro growled at her because of the nickname, but it was almost playful as she started to recover her composure and giggled at him. Smiling warmly at her, they walked towards Ichigo, who had been staring absently into the blue sky of the soul-society.

"Thanks, Kurosaki." He said gruffly, not to pleased that he had to thank the new captain already, but he had done a good job with Momo and had earned it. Ichigo just smirked and looked down at him.

"No problem, _Shiro_." Hitsugaya snarled at him but his retort was cut before it began by Hinamori walking up to him and leaning on him.

"Can you carry me home, Shiro?" Any insult he may have had completely lost effect as Ichigo started to snicker at the pair, and he could only glare at him. Once Ichigo had gotten over the moment, he looked over at Momo.

"Lieutenant, you've got more power than you let on, or at least are aware of. I expect you to be training to release it, and we'll start with you walking on your own to the fifth division barracks." The girl groaned and pouted, looking up at her captain.

"But I've got work to do, some of it yours!" Ichigo just shrugged and started to walk away from the pair.

"Well that's your job isn't it? I would love to help but someone seems to have been firing Kido at me so I'm going back to the fourth squad barracks, hopefully I won't find Unohana there." Ichigo prayed that he didn't, he doubted the healer would be all that happy if he turned up the same day he left with even more damage to his body, albeit it wasn't that bad, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful.

* * *

><p>It turned out that Unohana was indeed present as always at the fourth squad barracks, and was now scolding him in her usual calm way for getting injured, again.<p>

"You know we don't have infinite space in these barracks, and it will be even less if you constantly take up space, Captain Kurosaki." Ichigo rubbed the back of his head nervously and had to stop himself from talking a step back from the elder captain.

"uh, yeah sorry, it won't be this soon again, I had to help someone out and it was urgent." He prayed she didn't push for any more, and his prayers were answered as she just nodded and put her hands over him, ready to heal him.

Ichigo was about to tell her that she didn't need to waste her time healing him but then he felt pain shooting up his wounds and she smiled down at him after five agonising minutes, finished. "Sorry about that, I needed to make sure you were healed up properly so I was as careful as possible. Now I hope I don't see you in here soon captain."

Ichigo nodded quickly and grabbed his repaired uniform and haori, fleeing from the room as quickly as he could. She was right, he would not be back there soon if he could help it, the woman knew how to get her point across that was for sure. Shuddering he made his way out of the barracks and started to find his way to his own.

* * *

><p>When Ichigo got into his office, two things surprised him instantly: One was that Momo that his door had been replaced, and two that Rukia was currently sitting in his chair.<p>

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, and she smirked at him standing and holding out what looked like a magazine.

"Well, 'berry, I remembered that you haven't seen this yet, you should be happy since I helped make it." Ichigo didn't trust her mischievous smile or the way her eyes looked amused already. Quickly he took the magazine and immediately groaned when he saw the cover.

The cover had 'Seireitei monthly' emblazoned across the top and beneath that the main story. There was an image of himself in the centre holding Zangetsu over his shoulder and wearing his new captain's haori, and behind him, grinning and holding his sword at his side; was Kenpachi. The main story title was below the two images: 'New fifth squad captain: second day brawl!'

Rukia laughed at his expression, but wasn't done yet as she leaned closer to him. "Open up, I made sure to give them some help since I know you the best." Feeling a dark sense of foreboding, Ichigo flipped through the pages until he spied Rukia's name with a quote next to it.

_In search of more information on the oft heard of but little known Ichigo Kurosaki, we searched for someone who knew him from his previous visits. We were delighted to find that Rukia Kuchiki approached us with the desire to answer any questions we had on the hero. Here is a section from __the interview._

_Lt. Matsumoto: So Rukia, would you say Ichigo is qualified to be the new captain?_

_R. Kuchiki: Well, in terms of power of course he is, but he has no understanding of Kido and sucks at sensing reiatsu. In-fact I can tell you that I am teaching him at the moment, and we have had our first lesson already._

_Lt. Matsumoto: Really? Well how did he do?_

_R. Kuchiki: It took some time but he seemed to get the very basics when he concentrated, but the moment he stopped he almost blew us up._

_Lt. Matsumoto:*__Laughs*** **Well we hope to hear from you again on those lessons, but moving in, is there anything that you can tell us that he wouldn't normally expose?_

_R. Kuchiki: Hmm...well without revelling anything personal, I can say that after he told his family about his promotion, he received a new nickname from one of his sisters._

_Lt. Matsumoto: Oh, and what was that._

_R. Kuchiki: Captain Strawberry._

_Lt. Matsumoto: Really? I'll have to remind him next time I see him..._

_R. Kuchiki: I'm sure he'll be happy to oblige you, I can also confirm that he still has a stuffed toy that he keeps in his room, I don't think he brought it with him though._

_Lt. Matsumoto: Aww how cute..._

Ichigo stopped reading and slowly put the magazine down, fuming and glaring at the dark haired witch next to him, who seemed to be stopping herself from breaking out into fits of laughter as she single handedly destroyed his reputation.

"You. Will. Pay." Ichigo ground out through clenched teeth, Rukia just laughed at him and walked past him, leaving him petrified in anger and embarrassment in his office.

"We will see, 'berry, we will see, by the way; we're even now." Her words trailed after her as she left him to plot his revenge.

* * *

><p>(AN) Thanks once again to all the reviewers, I'm glad your enjoying the story! I hope to read more reviews after this :P Anyhow, a few things: just to say why Kenpachi was equal to Ichigo at that moment since a few people questioned it. He was stronger than Ichigo at one point during the Hueco mundo arc, since he defeated the 5th espada where Ichigo could barely defeat the 6th. This could be a result of Ichigo's previous fighting though, but the fact remains that Kenpachi's reiatsu has risen.<p>

If he continued improving for two years whilst Ichigo remained dormant I don't think it's a stretch to have there power at comparable levels, at least for the time being.

Anyhow, this was another long fight scene, well long for me but it was necessarily so I hope you didn't mind it :)


	7. How to train a Shinigami

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

It turned out that Ichigo's revenge would have to wait for now, since it was time for him to start training his squad, he had been stuck doing paperwork that had backed up for a few days and was officially sick of it. Groaning at the thought, Ichigo looked down at the half-done stack of paperwork on his desk and considered it for a moment before finishing and calling for his Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Hinamori!" However, he got no reply, scowling he checked her office and found it empty. Ichigo saw another member pass by and he shouted out to him.

"Oi, you." The member turned and approached the new Captain nervously, bowing down when he got close enough.

"Y-yes, sir?" Ichigo rolled his eyes at the gesture.

"Stand up, and don't bow to me again. Now, who are you?" Even as he asked, Ichigo wondered why he did, for the chances of him remembering a name were slim to none.

"…an unseated member of the Fifth Squad." Inwardly cringing Ichigo realized that he had missed the name that the member had given.

"Uh, right. Well, I want you to go find my Lieutenant and get her here as soon as possible." The man nodded and started running off, but stopped after just a few steps.

"Couldn't you use a hell butterfly, Captain?" Ichigo had to fight from going red with embarrassment, as he was not about to admit that he didn't know how to use one. He didn't want his squad to think he was a complete idiot.

"No this is too urgent, go and get her, now!" The terrified man scrambled to flee from his irritated Captain, desperate to find the Lieutenant or risk suffering even more of his Captain's wrath.

Ichigo waited impatiently in his office for the man to return with his Lieutenant, leaning on the wall beside the window. After a few minutes, an intruder hopped up onto the window frame, surprised at realizing their presence was expected.

"Yo, Rukia." Ichigo turned his head and smirked at her slightly irritated expression. "I should warn you that I can sense your spiritual pressure now." She cocked her head at him and smirked back.

"Only mine? I feel so flattered Kurosaki." Ichigo scowled at her as she gracefully jumped down from her perch.

"Shut it, midget. It's because I have to deal with you so often, it's my natural defense against you." Rukia scowled back at him and crossed her arms, turning away from him slightly.

"Well, you might want to get a refund." Ichigo just chuckled at her. It was then that the frightened looking member and Ichigo's Lieutenant chose to enter his room. Hinamori simply acknowledged Ichigo, already quite used to Rukia randomly appearing and '_talking' _with her Captain.

"I'm here Captain, what did you need?" Ichigo waved out the man who he had sent to find her, who took the opportunity to flee the room as fast as he could.

Ichigo was about to respond when Rukia interrupted him, "Why'd you send someone to find her? A hell butterfly would have reached to her much more quickly." Ichigo scowled and decided to ignore Rukia's question.

"Can you assemble the squad in the courtyard? I want to have a look and see what I've got to work with and what training I will need to think of-" Rukia interrupted him again, smirking in realization.

"I get it, you don't know how to use them, do you?" He scowled and glared at the petite Shinigami.

"So what if I don't, I've only been a Captain for around a week." However, this didn't succeed in wiping the amusement off her face, and Ichigo simply continued to glare at her in embarrassment before he turned back to Hinamori. "So, can you go ahead and assemble them?" She nodded and made to leave, but not before stopping and turning back around.

"Captain, if you would like I could teach you how to use the hell butterflies after you inspect the men?" Ichigo hesitated briefly before nodding. Hinamori left the room and shut the door behind her, leaving the pair together, with Rukia still smirking at him. He turned and scowled at her.

"If you don't mind I'm a bit busy." The older Shinigami went and opened the door, waiting just outside the threshold of the room.

"I'd like to stay and observe, after all I've been here for a lot longer than you, and I've had my fair share of training sessions."

"Fine, whatever." The young Captain strode out of the room with Rukia trailing after him, she watched him intently, and curious as to how this was going to turn out.

* * *

><p>Ichigo and Rukia finally arrived, after a few wrong turns, at the courtyard where the squad had assembled per orders. They were all standing in loose groups of a few members each, chatting amongst themselves as they waited for their Captain. Once the members noticed Ichigo's presence the noise ceased and they gave him their undivided attention. Ichigo walked over to where Hinamori stood at the entrance to the courtyard, Rukia drifted off to the edge and sat on one of the railings, watching as he spoke to his squad.<p>

"Uh, hey." The squad members stared blankly at him, but he continued regardless. "I asked you to come here in order to find out how strong you all are, to determine what kind of training you will need. First, will the seated officers step forward?"

Eighteen members stepped forward from the crowd, shuffling about as they did so, clearly arranging themselves according to what position they held. Ichigo looked at the group of people and audibly groaned, eliciting a few strange looks from his squad. Rukia piped up to explain it to them.

"Just so you know, your captain has the worst face and name recognition I have ever seen, so if he forgets your name, don't worry about it." There were a few laughs from the group and Ichigo silenced them all with his glare, he then turned to Rukia.

"Shut it midget or I'll kick you out of my barracks." She glared back but complied, resting her hands on her lap and leaning against a supporting pillar.

"Anyway, disregarding any _interruptions_" he shot another look at Rukia, who was doing her best to look innocent. "I want all of you to tell me your names, and the positions you hold.

Rukia was right of course, by the time he got to the end of the line and walked back to the head of the group he could only remember a few names and couldn't place them to a face. All he could remember was that the 20th seated position consisted of a group of people that had something to do with hell butterflies.

"Right, now on to what you are here for. How many of you have achieved Shikai?" There was a murmur from the group, and about ten or so of the hands went up. Ichigo groaned internally, he didn't really want to have to teach them any more than they knew about sword materialization, since it was such a tricky subject and was unique to every person.

"Okay then, I want you to split into groups of four, and each group will have two teams, with two members on each side. I want you to fight, one on one and tag out when you are feeling tired. You can't use Shikai if you have it." There was a small groan but they did as ordered, all splitting into a group and preparing to fight. Over all, there were about eight groups, and Ichigo was a bit surprised at the lack of people. Hinamori stepped forward at his confused expression.

"We have a little less than 200 members, but most of them are in the world of the living at the moment. We are surprisingly lucky to have all the seated officers here for a change." Ichigo nodded, and looked at them, they had not started fighting yet.

"Okay, start."

Ichigo flash-stepped onto the roof to get a better view of the fights, doing his best to watch them all with a critical eye. It was difficult for him to evaluate them though since he didn't have any formal training with a sword. However, this didn't prevent him from noticing the few who were either hesitant in their strikes, or always on the defensive. Getting an idea, he jumped down next to Hinamori.

"Hey, do you know if I can get a normal sword around here?" She looked at him curiously and he elaborated. "I can't fight them with Zangetsu, it's always in Shikai and it would be unfair if they can't use a Shikai of their own."

"Well, in the lockers over there should be some training Zanpakuto that are used for recruits who haven't learned to communicate with theirs yet." Ichigo nodded and retrieved one, appearing before the mass of fighting with two swords.

"Alright, stop!" The fighting died down and everyone turned towards him. "You, step forward." One of the members who had seemed unsure when fighting walked towards him, looking nervously from side to side.

Ichigo pulled Zangetsu off his back and, after the bindings fell off, stabbed it into the ground next to him. Taking a step towards the member, he raised the training sword. "When you are fighting, what do you think about?" The man looked confused by the question.

"I-I don't understand, what-" Ichigo cut him off.

"By the looks of your attacks, you are afraid. Afraid of dying, and afraid of killing." The squad member looked very nervous now, not to mention embarrassed at a few jeers that flew his way. Ichigo ignored them and stared at the student.

"You know, I had the same problem when I first became a Shinigami, it took a while for me to get over it. It's not like I had all the time in the world either since I was fighting a few life and death battles." Some members of the group looked over to Rukia then back at him, but remained silent.

"Luckily I had a very good mentor, and he, as well as my Zanpakuto, taught me how you should think during a fight." Ichigo walked towards the squad member, his sword held pointing at the floor.

"Attack me." He stood directly in front of him as he spoke and it took the squad member a few seconds to raise his blade and follow his orders, only to meet thin air. Ichigo appeared behind him and said softly.

"If you dodge, think: I won't let them cut me" The squad member spun around and took a few steps back. Ichigo lunged forward and was happy to see that the member had dodged his attack as the member jumped back, but Ichigo couldn't tell if it was out fear that caused it.

His squad member retaliated, bringing his Zanpakuto down on Ichigo, only for his Captain to parry the attack. "If you protect someone, think: I won't let them die." He pushed the member back and suddenly rushed towards him, his blade creating a small cut on his cheek.

"And if you attack, think: I'll cut them." He turned around to the rest of the group, his blade still dripping slightly with blood. They had watched the fight with awed expressions, and now their attention was solely on their captain.

"You cannot win a fight with fear, your enemy will know and exploit it. If you fight with fear, you will die." Ichigo let the statement hang in silence for a moment before he turned and walked off to the side. "Continue with your fights, I will be watching and anyone who is fighting with fear may be given something that they can really fear."

The squad quickly split apart into their groups again, heeding to their Captain's words. Trying to fight without fear whilst being scared of what he would do to those that did. Ichigo pulled Zangetsu out of the ground and watched as Hinamori joined in with the men, not that she needed it. He leaned on the barrier next to Rukia who was giving him a small smile.

"What?" He asked gruffly, and she looked out at the men fighting at his command.

"You've changed a lot from the punk I gave my powers to a few years ago." Ichigo's expression was somber as he followed her gaze.

"Well, I suppose having the fate of two worlds on your shoulders changes you a bit, but not for the worse, I've got all I want." Rukia looked at him surprised, she had expected him to feel some longing to return to the world of the living, but his face was content, and his familiar scowl was almost non-existent in this moment of peace.

"Meh, you haven't changed enough, you're still the same cocky punk deep down." Ichigo smirked at her.

"And you're still the same midget princess you always were." She smacked him playfully on the arm before asking him about the quote. "Yeah, Urahara told me that when he first trained me, and Zangetsu told me something similar when I fought Kenpachi for the first time."

"Well, I hope you have some other plans for them, that doesn't just involve regurgitating things people have told you?" He scowled at her, pulling away from the fence.

"Oh, like you're any better, you've never had to train anyone!" Rukia hopped off the fence too, her voice rising as she stood up to him.

"I have too, I helped train the members of the 13th Squad!" Ichigo scoffed and raised his voice to match hers.

"Oh, how many of those with great fighting ability have I heard of?" Rukia fumed and clenched her fists at her side.

"Don't you dare insult my division, 'berry boy, you've never fought anyone in it!" Ichigo just sneered at the petite shinigami.

"Well, aside from your captain, your third seat is the sister of the fourth squad lieutenant, right?" Rukia nodded, not sure where he was going with this. " I took her out without using my Zanpakuto, so I can't see her sister being much better." Rukia took a step closer.

"Of course you did! Lieutenant Isane is a healer, and besides I'm stronger than the third seats!" Ichigo smirked at this and bent down, pushing his face very close to hers and said mockingly.

"That's not really helping your point, midget." Rukia poked him in the chest, leaving her finger pressed against it.

"I could beat your sorry ass if that's a challenge, strawberry!" Ichigo continued to glare at her until a voice interrupted their argument.

"Uh, Captain Kurosaki and Ms. Kuchiki, if you don't mind?" They both turned to see the rest of the squad staring at them with expressions of disbelief, Hinamori just looked exasperated at the pair arguing. Rukia just glared at him and he turned on the squad with an irritated expression.

"What?" Ichigo snapped, glaring at the squad irritation.

"It would help if you were paying attention when training the men, wouldn't it?" He blinked and looked around at the squad, finally realizing where he was. Flushing deeply he scowled and looked away from the crowd, trying to calm himself down before he spoke again.

"Okay, that's enough for today. I hope you've learned something, remember what I told you today, and never fight with fear behind your blade." Ichigo didn't wait for any further embarrassment and swept out of the courtyard, leaving the squad to snicker amongst themselves and Rukia to fume over his insults.

* * *

><p>A few days after the interrupted training session, Ichigo sat idly at his desk and wondered about what to do. Rukia was busy doing some mission for her squad, as was Renji, and he had finished his work and handed out the missions to his squad. They hadn't gotten anything taxing since he had been a captain, mostly just living world hollow protection in various parts, and every now and again they were told to send a few to check up on some of the Rukongai Districts.<p>

Ichigo was curious as to what these areas were like for the people, having only been there a few times, and not for very long. From what he had seen they were not very pleasant, he wondered if there was any way to change that. His musings had been interrupted when Hinamori entered his room, carrying some kind of folder with her.

"Captain, I have something here that I would like you to look over." Her voice sounded nervous and hesitant. He eyed her curiously before he stood up and walked around the desk to retrieve the file.

After their fight, she had opened up to him a bit more, and seemed to be more at ease around him than before. She had told him a bit about her life before she became a Shinigami and her friendship with the 10th Squad Captain. Taking the file out of her hands, he looked over it, his eyes widening in shock at the form.

"This...is a transfer request?" It was a question more than a statement and she nodded, dipping her head.

"Yes, I would like to resign my position as Lieutenant of the 5th Squad and join the 10th Squad." Ichigo flipped through the file for a second before he went back around his desk and dropped it in front of him as he sat down.

"Is it because I am your new Captain? Or do you have an issue with how I run things?" he asked with confusion in his voice. He had thought that things had been getting better between them. He had tried to get to know as many of the squad members as he could, and was slowly learning the names of the seated members at least, but she shook her head and looked around the office.

"N-no, it's nothing like that, you're a good person and a fine Captain considering you have no experience, and I can only see you getting better with time, but..." She looked at him, and he could see that her eyes were watering very slightly. "I don't think I can deal with the memories that this place brings back, I didn't enter this room until you became our Captain, and I-I can't stand it." She finished saying, a pained expression on her face.

"I think that being closer to Tosh-Captain Hitsugaya will help me as much as being away from here will. I'm sorry." She avoided his eyes, clearly expecting him to be angry with her. Ichigo ran a hand through his hair and she heard nothing from him for a few moments, then she heard his chair pushed back.

Ichigo handed her the completed form and when she looked up at him, finally she was surprised to see him smiling at her.

"You've done more than you should have to, the war was tough on you and the aftermath is no better. You may as well take a break from this kind of responsibility and spend some time with your friends, even if it's at work." He held out his hand to the shocked Shinigami. " I was lucky to have someone like you as my Lieutenant."

She took his hand gently and he shook it once before going back to his seat. She stood in silence before him until he spoke up again. "Well, you should get going, Hinamori, I don't think Toshiro is as lax as me when it comes to schedules."

"Yes sir, thank you Captain Kurosaki." With that she left and Ichigo was without a Lieutenant for the first time in his short career as a Captain. He quickly decided that he would need to find a new one, not being fond of doing more paperwork than was necessary, someone entering his room interrupted his train of thought.

"Knock knock, Ichigo." Shunsui walked in as he spoke, looking as casual as ever. When Ichigo looked up, he tipped his hat to him and Ichigo nodded in response.

"Hey, Shunsui, what are you doing here?" The older Captain grinned and leaned on Ichigo's desk with one hand, looking around innocently.

"Oh nothing just stopping by for a visit." Ichigo eyed him skeptically as he continued, "I couldn't help overhearing that you've lost your Lieutenant, but luckily I have the best solution!"

Before Ichigo could respond, he was picked up by the shoulders and maneuvered around his desk towards the exit. "What are you doing?" He asked indignantly and received a chuckle from his senior.

"Oh Ichigo, whenever something likes this happens, whether it is for a celebration or commiseration, there is a tradition that I always follow." Ichigo didn't like where this was going but allowed Shunsui to continue pushing him outside of his barracks.

"And what's that?" He wished that he hadn't asked when he saw the grin widen on Shunsui.

"That would be Sake my young friend, I doubt you've had too much of it if any, and nothing this strong." Ichigo struggled slightly against the grip but found that he could not escape. "Now now, don't struggle before you've tried it, trust me this is a good way of getting to know other members of the Soul Society too."

Therefore, he resigned himself to his fate as he was led into a bar by a smiling Shunsui, and prepared for whatever Soul Society could throw at him.

Beta'd by OpenSourceArtist

(A/N) Thanks for all the reviews yet again :D And special thanks to OpenSourceArtist who is my new Beta reader and has been very helpful in correcting any grammar mistakes and the like . more reviews plx :P Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	8. Drunken Genius

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Ichigo looked around somewhat apprehensively, his experience with alcohol wasn't very extensive, and after discovering that this was much stronger than anything he would have had before wasn't very encouraging.

He was sitting on the floor with a few other Shinigami who apparently had the same mentality as Shunsui: Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji, and Matsumoto were all pouring themselves some sake out of the many jugs at their low table. Shunsui sat next to him with his Lieutenant sitting behind him, no doubt keeping watch over her Captain.

He leaned over and passed Ichigo a full cup. "Come on Ichigo, drink up." He hesitantly took the cup and looked back at Shunsui's smiling face. Ichigo, not wanting to appear weak, lifted the cup and tipped the whole thing into his mouth.

It burned.

Ichigo choked and spluttered as his eyes watered as the drink burnt the back of his throat. There was laughter from the others at the table and Shunsui put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, you're young and have plenty of time to get used to sake, and no better time to start than now." He smiled from under his hat and drank some of his own sake. The other responses however were not so supportive.

"Hah, Ichigo that was the best reaction to sake I've ever seen!" Renji laughed, already red in the face from the alcohol.

"Yeah, if I had known it was that easy to beat you I would have brought some to our fight." Ikkaku snickered, slamming down his own cup and reaching for the closest jug. Shunsui chuckled and held up a hand.

"Now now, I know he didn't stay long, but Ex-Captain Amagai used to get drunk from the smell of sake, and passed out from a single cup." He passed Ichigo another cup. "At least you're still conscious."

Ichigo just nodded and took the next cup without thinking and winced as he took a smaller sip from the cup. The alcohol already began to take an effect on him, his usual scowl was less prominent, and he absently rocked the cup back and forth in his fingers while listening to the conversation going on before him.

"...but do you remember that time that Renji graduated from the Shinigami Academy?" There was laughter from the two males and Rangiku leaned in eagerly, clearly not having heard this story.

"What happened?" Renji laughed and jerked his thumb at Ikkaku.

"Well, after I graduated I went to a bar and found this guy and a bunch of the 11th Division drinking their asses off. I joined them and after that it's a blur really, but I remember using Zabimaru to try and catch him after he ran off with my headband." The bald Shinigami chuckled and took another drink, turning to Renji.

"You may not remember that much but I do. You came into the bar clearly very happy with yourself, and saw us drinking so you joined us like you said. You then put away so much sake, whilst claiming that it wasn't affecting you, that you couldn't walk more than a foot without staggering." Matsumoto laughed openly at the Lieutenant whose face was turning as red as his hair.

"Aww, poor Renji can't handle his drink." Renji just gave her the finger and took another sip of his sake.

"Fuck you, that was a long time ago." Matsumoto picked up a jug and drank straight from it, still giggling slightly at Renji.

"And it doesn't look like you've improved that much, poor little boy." She said patronizingly, leaning over and patting his head clumsily from across the table. Renji's eyes dropped to her cleavage and he smirked at her.

"Trust me, I wouldn't use little to describe anything of mine." She noticed that his gaze had dropped and pushed her arms under her ample chest, pushing them up slightly.

"Oh really, I would love to find out. Then again, that Zanpakuto might be compensating and I don't want to waste my time with someone below average." This got a roar of laughter from the two males sitting next to him and Ichigo snickered from his seat. Renji flushed in embarrassment and glared at the snickering Ichigo.

"Shut it, Ichigo. Your Zanpakuto isn't any better, maybe your meat cleaver is compensating." Ichigo snarled and put down his drink, a response ready. However, Matsumoto interrupted and levelled him with sinful eyes.

"I wouldn't mind him cleaving my meat." She winked at him and he blushed heavily, with hollers coming from the other members of the table aside from Shunsui, who was just looking around happily at everyone and plying himself with more sake. Matsumoto wasn't finished yet though and looked at him with consideration.

"It would be quite a story to have a night with the hero of the Winter War, how about it Ichigo?" He spluttered and blushed heavily, getting more jeers from around him.

"I-Wha-You-" He started, before Matsumoto's face seemed to light up.

"Oh! You're a virgin aren't you, now having that would be an accomplishment." Ichigo felt the need to hide as her eyes dropped to his chest. Renji laughed and began to mock him.

"Aww, the ickle Captain is a virgin!" He growled and took another sip of sake without thinking about it.

"Fuck you, Renji! I'm only eighteen, and it's not my fault if no one interests me, what's your excuse?" Renji just chuckled at him.

"What d'ya mean? I've had sex more times than I can count-" Ichigo interrupted him, smirking.

"So it's more than five?" The members of the table laughed at him, Shunsui chuckling quietly from under his hat, his face getting redder by the moment.

"Fuck you all, bastards." Renji was about to take a sip before he stopped and stared incredulously at Ichigo. "Wait, you said no one interests you? What about that sexy one with the massive chest?"

"Orihime?" He questioned and noticed that Matsumoto leaned forward, her past intentions presumably forgotten.

"Yeah, don't tell me she isn't your type or something?" Ichigo shrugged and poured himself another drink.

"Nah, not really. She's just a friend; I suppose she looks good but not amazing really. Besides she can be so annoying sometimes..." he just shrugged and took a sip of his freshly poured drink.

"You know she loves you right?" Matsumoto questioned, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, but that doesn't change how I feel about her. She told me and I said I didn't see her that way, apparently she thinks I like someone else, dunno who though." She nodded and inwardly smirked at the oblivious man before her.

'_He doesn't know that she thinks he liked Rukia? Hell, by the sound of it, he is oblivious to the way he acts around her, and I'm sure that from how Rukia acted when he was gone that the feeling is mutual. This is too good!'_ She inwardly squealed at the thought of the two being together, but made sure that even in her drunken state it didn't show.

"Oh, by the way Ichigo, what happened to your Lieutenant? Captain Kyoraku said that she just left. Did you scare her off?" There was snickering amongst the group and Yumichika spoke up.

"I heard from a few members of the 5th talking about your training, they said that you knew your stuff but scared them with your constant angry face." Ichigo demonstrated the face to him and scoffed.

"They're just idiots. At least they aren't weak, so that's one thing I don't have to deal with." Ichigo was very happy that he didn't have to do training from the ground up, since his methods were unconventional at best, and he didn't think it would be all that helpful for beginners.

"Oi, strawberry, what happened to Hinamori?" He scowled at Renji and put down his sake.

"I'm getting to that, pineapple." Renji glared at him but was silent. "Basically we had a fight to settle her unresolved feelings over Aizen, and since there is now a Captain for the 5th she can't bear the thought of going back into his office office everyday like before. She resigned from the 5th Squad and requested a transfer to the 10th Squad in order to be with Toshiro." Matsumoto's eyes lit up and she leaned forward.

"Really! Yay, now there's someone to have fun with in the 10th, and I can try to get those two together. Work will be so much better!" Renji looked at her incredulously.

"What you do isn't really work, Rangiku." She waved him off with a hand and continued to indulge in her fantasies of pairing Momo and her Captain. '_They will be so cute together!'_

"So you haven't got a Lieutenant now?" Shunsui said, and Ichigo shook his head. "Man, that's rough for such a new Captain, I'm lucky to have my Nanao, right sweetie?" The Lieutenant blushed at her inebriated Captain and slapped his hand away with her ever-present assortment of files. The old Captain pouted and turned back to Ichigo.

"So do you have any idea who you want to be your Lieutenant?" He shrugged and Renji made an offhanded remark that caught his attention.

"You know, Rukia should be one of us by now..." He said as he took a sip and shrugged after. " Well, what can you do, her brother took her off the list."

However, the comment had put the idea into Ichigo's head and he stood up quickly, wobbling slightly as he did. The group looked at him surprised.

"What's the rush, Ichigo?" Shunsui said in his usual calm voice, not even spilling the sake in his hand.

"I just remembered something I need to do, bye" Not waiting for a response he stumbled slightly as he walked over to the door and emerged from the bar, looking around in a haze, not sure where to go from here.

He spotted a passing Shinigami and ran up to him.

"Hey, you there, stop." The shinigami stopped and turned, revealing them to be a female with shoulder length blonde hair. She was surprised to see a Captain standing before her, clearly drunk, having expected a usual drunk from the bar.

"Y-yes sir, what is it?" Ichigo looked at her blankly before her question registered in his alcohol-confused mind.

"Oh yeah, which way is the 13th Division barracks?" The girl pointed to her left hesitantly, straight at the wall next to them.

"That way I suppose, are you okay, Captain?" Ichigo waved her question off and she watched as he jumped onto the roof and spotted the barracks in the distance. She continued to watch as he hopped haphazardly across the roofs, slipping slightly every so often. Shaking her head, she continued on her way to report to the 5th Division barracks for the first time.

The world was blurry for the drunken Captain as he hopped across the rooftops, getting a few strange looks along the way that he didn't notice. Deciding that this was going too slowly he tried a flash-step and learned a very important lesson: Never use flash-step while drunk.

He collided with the celling of a building much too fast and smashed through it, landing on his backside. Groaning, Ichigo staggered to his feet and looked around, there were a few surprised looking Shinigami and one who apparently recognized him. The man had a few scars on his face and the number '69' tattooed on the left side of his face. Ichigo vaguely remembered a name but was too intoxicated to link it to the face.

"Captain...Kurosaki?" Ichigo just nodded and looked around for an exit. Seeing the huge holed he had made upon his impromptu arrival, he jumped out, leaving the room covered in debris and with a few shocked and confused people wondering what had just happened.

Learning his lesson, Ichigo did not attempt to travel via flash-step again, settling on his previous plan of leaping from building to building. Eventually he made his way to the 13th Division barracks when two confused guards at the gate then confronted him.

"Yo, open up." They looked at each other then back to him.

"Captain Kurosaki, Captain Ukitake has requested some time to himself and does not wish to be bothered-" Ichigo growled and just hopped over the gate, wondering why he bothered to stop in the first place. The two guards just stared after him, wondering why the young Captain needed to see him so urgently.

After stumbling around the barracks for a while and threatening a few Shinigami who asked him if he needed something, he successfully made his way to the Captain's office and pushed the doors open, making his way into the room without hesitation.

Ukitake was at his desk, writing a new chapter for his frequently read novel in the Seireitei communication: '_Warning of the Twin Fish_' and looked up when he heard someone enter, recalling that he asked not to be disturbed. He was more surprised than irritated when he saw the young Kurosaki standing before him, who seemed to be wobbling slightly on his legs.

"Kurosaki? Is there something I can do for you?" A moment later, the familiar smell of sake wafted off the young Captain, and Ukitake recalled Shunsui asking him if he wanted to come for a drink. He had responded that he didn't feel up to it, which was true since his medicine was a day later than usual.

Ichigo stepped forward and walked up to the desk, putting a hand on it to steady himself.

"Yes, I lost my Lieutenant today." Before Ukitake could respond, Ichigo continued; " Now I need a new one, and I have just the person in mind."

"And who would that be?" He questioned, already having a fair idea of where this was going.

"I want Rukia." He was blunt and to the point in his drunken state, and the older Captain gave a small smile.

"You want Rukia, do you? Well she is a very capable Shinigami and I would have her as my Lieutenant if her older brother had not stopped me. However, I am sure I can find someone else if you would like her, but what about Captain Kuchiki?" Ichigo snorted and waved a hand in dismissal.

"I don't care what that stuck up bastard thinks, this is Rukia's decision, and she will make it." Ukitake nodded and summoned a hell butterfly to his finger, silently giving it a message before he sent it away.

"Very well, Rukia is training with the recruits at the moment, but she will be up shortly and then you can tell her yourself." He watched Ichigo's expression lighten and decided to try his luck. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you want her as your Lieutenant?" All he got was a blank look for a second before Ichigo smirked back at him.

"Why wouldn't I? Rukia is good at Kido where as I am not, and she can think things through with a clearer head than I can, she's a perfect candidate. She also knows how things run and will be able to do the paper work, but besides all that it means I'll get to spend some more time with her." Ukitake inwardly smiled, wondering if Ichigo knew what he had just drunkenly confessed, but gave no sign of it to the young Captain.

They waited for a moment in silence before they heard a voice from the other side of the door. "Captain, you wished to see me?"

"Yes, come in Rukia." She did as she was told and knelt down once she had entered, surprised to see Ichigo standing next to her Captain.

"Ichigo...what is this about, Captain Ukitake?" He motioned her to stand and she did so, he then rested his hands on the table and looked at Ichigo.

"Captain Kurosaki has a proposition for you which I think you may find interesting." Rukia eyed Ichigo curiously, wondering why he needed to come to her Captain with this proposition. Ichigo stepped forward and she caught the scent of sake.

"Ichigo, have you been drinking?" She asked, looking at him in surprise.

"Yes, Shunsui took me to a bar and I had a few drinks with him, Ikkaku, Renji, Yumichika, and Rangiku." She was about to scold him for such reckless behaviour as he was supposed to set an example, but he raised a hand to silence her.

"No shouting or complaining, I'll deal with that later, first I have a question." Rukia waited curiously and he seemed to compose himself slightly before continuing.

"Rukia Kuchiki, I would like to offer you the position of Lieutenant for the 5th Division." The statement was surprisingly formal and Ukitake was impressed that he managed it, as drunk as he was.

Rukia stood in shock for a moment before she regained her composure and responded. "Ichigo, you're drunk, you already have Hinamori-"

"It doesn't matter, I would've had the same choice either way and Hinamori has transferred to the 10th Division, so the position is open." She racked her brains for another reason why she might not be able to accept.

"But, what about my brother he won't-" He cut her off again, taking a step towards her.

"I don't care what Byakuya thinks, he can stick his opinion where the sun don't shine. It's your decision and he needs to let you make it, if he has a problem then he can take it up with me after you give me your response." Inwardly smiling at his confidence in her, she turned to her Captain who was openly smiling and stopped her before she could say anything.

"I don't mind, you would probably be better at Kurosaki's side, and I have my two 3rd seats still. I am not in major need of a Lieutenant." Looking from one to the other Rukia came to a decision, and after crossing her arms, she smirked at Ichigo.

"If I accept, then you better not dump all the paperwork on me." Ichigo chuckled and leaned against the wall to support himself.

"Of course not, I didn't do it to Hinamori, so why would I do it to you? Now what do you say?" She straightened her back and nodded, causing him to smile broadly.

"I accept, thank you...Captain Kurosaki." She smiled back at him and watched as he took a step towards her.

One step was all he got however as he promptly fell down, unconscious from his excess consumption of alcohol. The two looked at him in shock before Ukitake chuckled and leaned back in his chair.

"Your Captain is incapacitated, aren't you going to help him?" Rukia snorted and looked down at Ichigo's sleeping form.

"I'm not officially a Lieutenant yet, I don't need to help him." Ukitake gave another small chuckle and motioned to the door.

"Very well, I think it would be best if he slept in the Lieutenant's quarters, rather than subject him to the embarrassment of him being carried across the Seireitei unconscious...Shunsui is going to love this when I tell him." Rukia continued to glare down at him.

"Fool, he deserves it for getting so drunk." Despite saying that, Rukia, along with the 13th Division's 3rd seats, managed to get the drunk Captain across the hall and settled into the old Lieutenant's quarters.

Rukia looked down and smiled softly at him, he was much calmer when he slept, and in his drunken stupor he had much more of a boyish charm than usual. She looked around and recalled the last Shinigami who owned this room: Kaien. Ichigo and him were so similar, but at the same time so different, she had no doubt that he would've enjoyed teasing the orange haired Captain as much as she did, if not more.

Giving him one last glance, she slipped out of the room and started making her way home, her mind buzzing at the thought of her new position, but also the growing fear of what her brother would do once he found out that Ichigo had snuck her out from under him.

Beta'd by OpenSourceArtist

Thanks to all who have reviewed :) Not much to say this time, I answered most of the questions in review responses xD Things will liven up in the next few chapters though :P


	9. Hangover

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

The orange haired Captain opened his eyes and looked around groggily. He didn't recognize his surroundings and felt a pounding in his head as he sat up. Groaning, he tried to hide back under the covers but stopped when a voice on the other side of the door called out to him.

"Captain Kurosaki, are you awake?"

"No, go away." He grumbled, annoyed as the 3rd seat walked in anyway, looking down at him. He noticed that he was still in his clothes and hadn't changed after last night...'_Last night. I can barely remember it.'_

"Sir, Captain Ukitake wishes to see you." Ichigo considered just pushing her out and staying in the bed, but it might've been a bit rude considering these weren't his barracks. Instead, he sighed and stood up, putting on his haori as he did so.

His headache persisted as he entered the Captains room, and the sudden burst of light from the windows did not help him.

Ichigo cried out and blocked his eyes "Argh!"

"Ah, good morning to you too Ichigo, it seems as though you are still suffering from last night." The old Captain got a grunt in response and Ichigo sat down on the chair opposite of him, wincing slightly at the sun.

"Morning, Ukitake." He laughed at the young man's attitude, clearly this was a new experience for him.

"I hope you are okay. I've been on the receiving end of one of Shunsui's drinking trips myself, and after 200 years I have yet to build up a strong tolerance to the stuff." Ichigo smiled weakly, still in pain from the night before.

"But I've called you here to finalize your decision, since I have the papers here you may as well sign them, rather than send them to the 5th Squad and then back." He watched curiously, not remembering what he had done last night and panicking slightly.

Ukitake handed him a file he squinted at to read. "Transfer request for...Rukia Kuchiki?"

He looked up at the other Captain questioningly. "Yes, if you don't remember, last night you came here drunk, and demanded to have Rukia as your Lieutenant since Hinamori had been transferred."

Ichigo eyes widened in shock, he then dropped his head into his hands. "Shit, I remember doing that now, eh, sorry about that," Ukitake laughed and leaned back into his chair.

"Don't worry about it, I would worry about what your new Lieutenant will do once she gets a hold of you though. Speaking of which..." He trailed, as there was a knock at the door. Ichigo slid down into his chair as Ukitake responded. "Come in, Lieutenant Kuchiki."

Rukia entered and immediately glared at the back of Ichigo's chair. Stalking up to it, she grabbed her new Captain's robe and pulled his face up to hers. "What the hell, Ichigo!"

"Shut it, midget. I'm still suffering..." He escaped out of her grasp and fled to the other side of the chair, holding his head in one hand.

Rukia glared at him for a moment before she crossed her arms and turned away from the pained Captain. "Good, you deserve everything you get after the stunt you pulled last night."

Ichigo could only manage a grumble in response. The pair looked towards Ukitake, waiting for the reason as to why they had been requested.

"Ah, you want to know why you are both here?" They just nodded in response and he continued.

"Well you see, as I told Captain Kurosaki, I have the request forms here for him so he wont have to wait for me to send it to him to make this official; this will also avoid the issue of your brother, Kuchiki. All I need you to do is both sign the paper and Kurosaki will be able to give you the insignia back at your new barracks."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other for a moment before, simultaneously, they grabbed a pen off the desk and signed the paper. Ukitake looked up at Ichigo who wore nothing but a blank stare. "Oh right, you may not know this but for orders such as promotions you will have to imprint your reiatsu on the paper, since you are the Captain receiving the new officer. Do you know how to do that?" Ichigo nodded. Hinamori had taught him when one such order came through, relating to gaining a new set of recruits from the Shinigami Academy.

'_I still haven't seen anyone new'_ He thought with irritation. Ichigo assumed that he would have to do some specific training for the new recruits, and help them into the squad. Pushing that notion aside, he took the paper between his forefinger and thumb and leaked a tiny amount of his reiatsu into it.

The paper fluttered slightly and a small box in the top right was quickly flooded with black, though a tinge of red seemed to permeate it. Ukitake took it back, satisfied, and called out to one of his 3rd seats.

"Kiyone, could you please take this and have it sent to the Central 46 so it can be sent to the Daireishokairo." This got Ichigo's interest, and ignoring his head's protests, he looked at Ukitake.

"I meant to ask someone about that, when did the Central 46 get reinstated?" Ukitake looked at him for a moment, his face grim.

"A few months after Aizen's defeat once enough members were deemed worthy of the empty positions. Although the Central 46 has less power now, and any questionable decisions may be challenged by the Captains and go into an investigation." He responded, knowing what concerns Ichigo may have had, considering what happened with the last lot of members. Regardless of Aizen's influence, there had been more than a few questionable decisions made by the Central 46.

"I suppose that's better than before, they'll be hearing from me if they do something I don't like." Ichigo growled. Rukia groaned next to him, not happy to see that he was already pitting himself against authority.

"Don't go starting trouble, fool. You are still subject to the laws of Soul Society like every other member of the Gotei 13." Ichigo just smirked at her.

"Well, I've been under them ever since Ukitake gave me the official Substitute Shinigami Badge, and look how that turned out." Rukia wrinkled her nose at his blatant disregard for the rules.

Ukitake pulled out another file of his, looking up at them. "Well it's all official then. I imagine Kiyone will spread the news quickly on her way to the Central 46 after she has opened up the file. It was good to have you here Rukia." He smiled up at her.

Rukia bowed deeply and smiled back at the white haired Captain. "Thank you, Captain Ukitake. It has been an honor to be a part of the 13th Squad."

Ukitake shifted his gaze to Ichigo. "Well, you two should get going, I believe that we are getting our recruits today from the academy. You will need to give them a little introduction and other such formalities."

Rukia nodded whilst Ichigo cringed at the thought. He would have to introduce himself to a bunch of recruits, just as he did with the rest of the squad. Except this time, he would be slightly hung-over and would have to hope that Rukia would not make things worse for him. '_Please don't screw me over here, midget.'_

* * *

><p>"Well, lets go midget." He nodded his head at the other Captain and turned out of the door, with his new Lieutenant following behind, glaring into his back.<p>

As they got out of the barracks, they fell into step with each other naturally. They peacefully walked together in silence for a while before Ichigo turned his head to Rukia. "So, I hope you're ready for paperwork midget, you will be doing your fair share."

Rukia smirked at him. "I'm a Kuchiki, anything like paperwork is second nature, and I've had to help around with the 13th Squad's paperwork sometimes. As long as you don't go dumping stuff on me." Ichigo just smirked back at her.

"Fine, fine...Are you sure you want this?" His sudden question surprised her and she looked up at him. He was looking at her with what looked like anxiety and caring. '_How can he be so brash and so...cute.'_

Rukia blushed at the thought and looked away, Ichigo watching her curiously. "Rukia?"

"I'm fine idiot, of course I want to join your squad, stop worrying about me. I don't need you smothering me." That brought certain _unwelcome _images to the both of them and they blushed looking down at the floor. After a moment of awkward silence, Ichigo grumbled in response.

"I'm not over protective...not like your brother..." He said under his breath, getting a glare from her.

"You're just as bad as Nii-sama, you simply slowly accepted that I am competent enough in a fight without you." Ichigo just scowled at her. Taking his lack of response as a sign of victory, Rukia smiled her fake, sweet smile at him as they continued walking in silence.

* * *

><p>A loud influx of noise greeted them when they opened the door to the assembly room of the barracks. All of the new recruits had congregated in the room and were talking amongst themselves. Ichigo just gaped at the group of people, not sure what to do with all of them. Luckily, Rukia had experienced this before in her long history with the 13th Squad and took charge, and pulled Ichigo to the front of the crowd.<p>

"Everyone, quiet now!" Her commanding tone rung out through the hall and the talk quickly died down, attention turning to her. "If you will wait here for a moment longer, you will have an induction into the 5th Squad."

Silence followed her statement and she quickly made her way out of the room, with Ichigo following behind her. As they walked she spoke, her tone professional and more like Byakuya. "We need to get to your office, there you can give me my new insignia so they will know who I am. You can also send out a hell butterfly to the squad, explaining them of the situation; after all, their Captain and Lieutenant have been gone for the night and half the day so I doubt they know any of the information behind it."

Ichigo just nodded at her tone, his head still ringing slightly at the noise of the room. "Fine whatever, just change the tone. You sound like Byakuya and its creepy."

Rukia glared at him, moving closer to the Captain's office. "Nii-sama is not creepy, he just knows when you should be professional." Ichigo scoffed but didn't respond, not wanting to incur the wrath of Rukia.

When they arrived, Ichigo opened the door to his office and looked around for the Lieutenant's insignia that Hinamori had left behind. He spotted it lying on his desk and picked it up, motioning Rukia to come towards him.

"When you wear this, you will officially be my Lieutenant, last chance to escape." She smirked at him and took a step towards him, motioning to take it from his hands.

"Like I would, someone needs to make sure you do this right." He smiled softly back at her, and then surprised her by moving the insignia past her hand. Instead of giving it to her, he took the bindings and deftly wrapped it around her arm, not noticing her slight blush as he did so.

"Then welcome to _my_ squad, Lieutenant Kuchiki." She would have rolled her eyes if she were not a Kuchiki, but instead simply looked at him impassively before mumbling in response.

"I could have done that by myself." She wouldn't admit that for some reason she liked him being close to her, she felt safe and his breath on her was somehow exciting. Once again pushing those thoughts away she turned and walked out of the door, Ichigo trailing after her looking less irritated than usual.

"Wait a second, Rukia." However, she did not stop. Ichigo cursed her under his breath and turned back into his room, walking to the window and holding out a finger for a hell butterfly.

One alighted and waited whilst he relayed information of the change in Lieutenants to the butterfly, then sent it off to all the seated members of the squad. After he had finished, he hurried back out of his room and followed Rukia's path down to the hall where the new members were waiting. Ichigo caught up with her just before the entrance and scowled at her.

"You could have waited you know." He heard her scoff though she didn't look back at him.

"If I'm your Lieutenant, we are doing things efficiently." He inwardly groaned, wondering how bad she was going to be about that. '_Never mind, eventually she will slow down, it's just because she just got the job'_ He convinced himself and prayed that it was true.

Walking behind her again, the two entered the room where the chatting recruits were waiting. Once again, Rukia spoke to them first, in her Kuchiki tone, which demanded respect.

"Hello, thank you for waiting. I am your Lieutenant: Rukia Kuchiki." There was some slight muttering since this was news but it quickly stopped under her cold glare. Ichigo stepped forward and looked at them, trying to sense anyone particularly weak or powerful with what skills he had.

"I am your Captain: Ichigo Kurosaki." There was some whispering, but Ichigo's scowl stopped them. "You will each join a seperate team within the 5th. which you will report to, and from now on be given missions. These squad members will be showing you around the barracks and if you have any questions they will be happy to answer. If you have any for me, then ask away." He thought it best to get this out of the way, but Rukia interjected as many hands went up.

"Captain Kurosaki will only be answering question about the 5th Squad." A fair amount of the hands went down. Ichigo picked one of the girls with shoulder length blonde hair, and felt a sense of déjà vu from somewhere.

"Could you tell me what you were doing yesterday night?" He suddenly remembered running into her and asking for directions in his drunken stupor. He winced slightly and Rukia glared at him. Rubbing the back of his head, he responded meekly.

"Uh, that was Captain Kyoraku's idea. He said it was tradition when losing or gaining a Lieutenant." That was the only explanation he could give, so he hoped that the squad didn't take him as an alcoholic from now on. Rukia came to his rescue once again, even though she was glaring at him.

"Besides that, what right do you have to question a Captain on his private life?" Her tone was surprisingly aggressive, and Ichigo felt bad for the new recruit for some reason and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Rukia. They have a right to know what their Captain is going to be like, but I can assure you I don't drink often." The tension died down a bit and he felt happy with how he dealt with the situation, despite the fact that Rukia seemed to be glaring at the new recruit who had asked it.

Moving on swiftly he turned to the next new member with a question. "Is there something you want the 5th Squad to stand for? Their last brochure at the academy was done only by the old Lieutenant."

Ichigo considered this question. It had been bugging him somewhat, since he didn't know what he wanted his squad to do in particular. He knew not all of the squads had a specialty, but he wanted the people in the squad to know what he expected of them, and what kind of attitude should exist. He knew that he wasn't an especially strict person and that would probably come across, but he got irritated if someone was ineffective or failed something where they should have succeeded.

After a moment of silence, he responded with what he had come up with when not doing paperwork. "I will tell you that I don't want this squad to be too strict. Do your job and do it well and we won't have any problems. I expect you all to train and increase your power so you can do that." He paused for a moment and thought about how he should continue.

"This squad does not have a specialty per se, but there is something I will expect out of all of you. You. Will. Protect." He emphasized every word, looking around at the new faces.

"If someone is in danger, be it a soul or just another shinigami, regardless of squad or who it may be, if they need help, you will aid them. We are meant to protect those in the world of the living, slaying hollows is how we do that but it is not more important than the lives of anyone else. Never back down if someone needs help, this is what I expect from all of you. If you don't agree then leave now."

No one moved.

Rukia was looking at him proudly and he gave her a small smile. After all, she had been one of those he had moved the heavens to protect. Turning around he saw that there were no new question and so he dismissed the group.

"Please all go to the main courtyard where the officers will be waiting to set you up within the squad." '_I hope'_ He inwardly winced; he had not given the officers much time since he sent the hell butterfly so he hoped they been able to do what he had asked. He turned to the door, saw a member of the squad directing the group, and sighed in relief.

"Well, that could have gone worse." Ichigo mused, and was now alone with Rukia, who scoffed slightly.

"I suppose so, but I pity those recruits." He just scowled back at her.

"Shut it, midget." She took that as a victory for her and just smirked back at him.

The two stood in silence, listening to the new recruits moving through the building as they searched for the location of their duties. Rukia could recall when she had joined the 13th Squad over 60 years ago, and her experience was much different. Byakuya had gotten her a spot, and she did not come in with the usual group of recruits. Despite that, she knew how strange it was to join in with a new squad and sent on missions for the first time, along with getting to know how the squad behaves.

Thinking back further, she thought about her time in the Rukongai District, living in poverty but still getting by and trying to protect whomever she could but after some time she had met Renji and he helped. Looking at Ichigo, she remembered what he had said to the recruits.

"So, you finally decided what the squad members should try and do." Ichigo looked back at her: surprised.

"Yeah, I suppose." He shrugged and ran his hand through his orange, unruly hair.

Rukia kept looking at him curiously, and after a few moments, he turned away and flushed. "Ichigo? Wha-"

"I decided that I wanted the squad to protect, because that's why I gained my power. To protect my family, then to protect-" Ichigo stopped suddenly, refusing to look back and blushed heavily.

"What else did you want to protect, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, oblivious to his blush, as he looked away from her and she became curious. She knew he wanted to protect everyone, but was there something in specific he had in mind.

"..." He mumbled something inaudible and Rukia growled.

"Speak up, fool."

Ichigo turned and glared at her, a faint red on his cheeks that she didn't notice. Remembering the conversation, Ichigo looked at the floor and mumbled quietly. "I wanted to protect you..."

Rukia was shocked by the sudden confession and this time she blushed heavily, the both of them looking at the floor.

"I-I mean, you were going to be executed, so I couldn't just let you die. You risked your life for me, so I owed you. So I protected you." Ichigo quickly mumbled out, running his hand through his hair as to try to escape from the awkward situation.

'_I just did what she deserved so we would be even.'_ He thought, though it didn't alleviate the odd feeling in the back of his mind that there was something else.

"_**Yeah right, King. You are so pathetic, why do I even put up with you.**_" Ichigo growled at his inner hollow.

'_Shut up, it's me who has to deal with you. You should feel lucky you still exist, bastard.'_ The dark voice cackled at the response.

"_**Fuck you, I do believe that you would be dead several times over if not for me. The moment you can't keep me down, I will consume you.**_" Ichigo growled, but couldn't escape the fact that it was indeed the truth. His hollow had saved his life more than once, especially during his fight with Ulquiorra on the roof.

Rukia's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Of course, but I don't need protecting, I'm not a porcelain doll." She was glaring at him slightly, but there was a tinge of red on her face.

"I know that midget, who made you a Lieutenant. Besides, who would want a doll of you?" She gave him a small shove, but didn't comment on it.

'_He did make me his Lieutenant'_ She thought, deciding to cease abusing him.

For now.

After all, this was his one free pass. If he did something nice then she supposed he could be let off for a moment. As she thought about him being nice, she thought about what he said before and blushed slightly.

'_He just wanted to repay what he thought was his debt. He didn't mean anything by it, and now I'm his friend, so he will protect me as he does the others. I'm not any different from the rest.'_ She assured herself that it was all there was to it; she also ignored the very same feeling that Ichigo's hollow had brought his attention to.

* * *

><p><em>In the deserts of Hueco Mundo<em>

A humanoid figure entered a dark cave, looking nervously from side to side as it walked through the white sands. The sand dissipated as he walked further into the cave, revealing the harsh rocky surface. Eventually, the figure stopped in front of another and knelt down, his eyes on the floor.

"Ah, you returned. What news do you have?" The voice was cold and mocking, with two bright eyes shining in the vast blackness of the cave.

The weaker hollow responded quickly. "The Shinigami scouts have been disposed of. It will not take long for Soul Society to notice and send members to investigate." The other figure smirked cruelly in the darkness and leaned back on his rocky throne.

"Very good. What of the others?" The voice responded quickly again.

"None of the remaining Espada could be located, we suspect that they no longer wish to be involved with any disputes." The shadowed figure sighed and tapped his claw-like fingers together.

"It can't be helped, I suspect the ones remaining only served Aizen because they promised to. Though I am disappointed that even Grimmjow was not located." The messenger tensed slightly but his master did not react.

A moment later, he looked up to see the man smirking again. "It does not matter anyway. We Vasto Lorde of old have enough power for this. Of course, it would be foolish to attempt this alone, but that's why we have enlisted the help of those downstairs. "

The messenger nodded, knowing that he was referring to the Menos that resided in their forests below. They may not be very powerful alone, but together they would be an army of power, capable of holding back more than one Captain class Shinigami.

He looked up when he heard footsteps and saw his master walk into the dim light slowly. He was covered in the white, bone-like substance that makes up much of a hollow, though it had streaks of blue running across it, like scars from a blade. His mask had a small row of teeth on it, but no jaw, so the teeth extended down to his chin. His eyes were slits of black with a small yellow light shining in the center, unyielding.

"Now, I think it's time for you to serve your purpose." The hollow looked up in shock, barely seeing the hand that severed his head from his neck. The Vasto Lorde chuckled in response to the shocked expression on the now decapitated head.

"You don't think I became a Vasto Lorde by having allies do you?" He quickly consumed the hollow before he returned to his makeshift throne and sat, waiting.

"You will come to me, Ichigo Kurosaki."

* * *

><p>Beta'd by OpenSourceArtist.<p>

(A/N) Haha, You all wanted Byakuya to be in this chapter, well he isn't, he is busy doing the paperwork that Renji never does. Looks like you will have to wait for your daily dose of stuck-up noble. Someone asked me how I update so quickly, well I just write the chapters in two day gap before I post the next, keeping two chapters ahead of what's currently up. It is also the holidays at the moment which helps :P

Thanks again for all the reviews! I really appreciate it, hope to read more :)


	10. Change of Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

After Ichigo's speech to the new recruits, the word of his decision on the squad's direction had spread quickly. It seemed that the members accepted his decision, and were happy to find that not much was really changing, just what their Captain expected of them. Ichigo was currently being pestered by his inner hollow, who was getting more noisy as of late.

"_**This is so boring, King. We haven't been out to kill some hollows in ages!**_" He was surprisingly whiny for a being that was so...evil.

Ichigo scowled and alone in his office responded aloud to the unasked question. "No, we are not going to kill some hollows. I've got work to do." Despite his response, Ichigo was no happier with the current situation. He had only been able to fight properly a month or two ago against Kenpachi. Since then, he had only fought with the recruits or other members, which was hardly taxing.

"_**I know you're frustrated too, lets just go kill something!**_" His scowl deepened; that was the key difference between them when fighting. His hollow wanted to kill, whereas he was either protecting or relieving stress mostly. Despite that, he couldn't deny that he felt enjoyment when fighting, or at least exited when he did.

"Until we get some free time, or are sent to the world of the living we can't. So shut your fucking trap." His hollow sneered and proceeded to throw a tantrum in his inner world, yelling about how weak Ichigo was and how boring it was there.

He was silenced abruptly by Zangetsu's deep voice. "_Shouting will not help, can't you just be patient?"_ He heard a snicker in his head before the response.

"_**Why would I be? I want to fight now!**_" Zangetsu sighed at the immature hollow, wondering how he had so much power.

The two continued to bicker inside his head, and Ichigo dropped his head onto the desk. He didn't hear someone enter his room and, reaching his limit, shouted out at the pair.

"Would you two just SHUT UP!"

A confused voice made him look up in surprise. "Ichigo? I'm the only one here..." Rukia was standing in his office, looking at him with a strange expression.

'_Of course, now she's going to think I'm crazy'_ He groaned to himself, only getting another snicker from the amused hollow.

"_**Ha, and she's your queenie isn't she? Well you fucked that up."**_ Ichigo blushed at his hollow's words, willing him to choke on his own tongue.

'_Shut it, I-it's not like that.'_ His response was just more snickering, before it was cut off by Rukia again.

"Hello? Ichigo?" She had moved closer to him, and was now leaning over his desk, watching him closely.

He blushed again at the close proximity and moved back. "Uh, sorry. What did you want?" He hoped that she would just ignore the incident.

Unfortunately, he had no such luck. "What was all that about?" She seemed genuinely concerned, and Ichigo didn't know if he should tell her, or how to without sounding crazy.

"Uh, well...you see..." He tried, looking for the right words, and getting a blank look from her. "My hollow and Zangetsu were arguing." He mumbled, sitting down and resting his arms on the desk, before laying his head on them.

Rukia looked shocked but broke out of it and just stared at him incredulously, "You mean you can hear them?" Ichigo nodded and turned his head towards her, not moving it from his arms.

"Yeah, they aren't normally this noisy though, Zangetsu gives me advice every now and then. My hollow just likes to insult me and constantly wants to fight, he was complaining that I haven't got to kill anything recently." Rukia blinked in surprise at the casual way he was speaking about two voices in his head.

"_It's not like you don't understand him, Rukia."_ Sode no Shirayuki's calm voice rang through her mind. She mentally agreed with her Zanpakuto; it was common for Shinigami with a good connection with their sword to get advice from them whenever they felt like it, it depended on the talkativeness of the spirit really.

Bending down, she smirked and knocked slightly against his head. "Hello, anyone in there?"

Ichigo glared at her and his hollow cackled. "_**Heh, see she doesn't mind talking, tell the queen hi from me you pussy.**_"

"Stop it, midget. That damn hollow doesn't need anyone else to insult." She stood at her full height, albeit short, and cocked her head slightly at him.

"Is he really that annoying?" This time it was Ichigo's turn to smirk at his hollow who growled in rage.

"_**What! Screw you, bitchy ice-queen. I will tear you to shreds if I get my hands on you.**_" His host suddenly became deadly serious with his next thought to the hollow.

'_If you touch one hair on her head, I will destroy you.'_ The hollow noticed that his inner world was deathly calm when he said this, there was no movement at all, and decided that he had aggravated Ichigo enough for today.

"_**Whatever.**_" Ichigo was satisfied that the hollow had finally shut up, and turned his attention back to Rukia.

"Yeah, he is, but he seems to have gotten bored or something and left me alone for now." She smirked back at him and held out the files that he hadn't noticed under her arm.

"Right, well now that you're done being crazy I have finished my paperwork for the day." She dropped the folder on the desk and Ichigo responded in a growl.

"I'd like to see you when you have an impatient and insulting hollow living in your head." She just smiled sweetly at him and he picked up the files to check through them.

Finding nothing out of place, not that he expected it, he stacked it up with his completed files and leaned back into his chair.

"I'm done too, want to do something?" Things were beginning to slow down for the new Captain as he got used to life in an office. He had been giving Rukia slightly more paperwork than him after he saw how quickly she could do it, so they finished around the same time.

After work, they were usually too tired to do anything other than go and get some sleep, or train the recruits if it was scheduled. In addition, he also had Kido lessons, which he was slowly improving in despite the numerous explosions that occurred.

Today was one of the few times that they were both free to do whatever they liked for an afternoon, or so he thought.

"I would, but Nii-sama is having dinner with me so I will be busy." Ichigo felt his heart drop in rejection, but didn't let it show on his face.

"Oh, fair enough." There was an awkward silence between the two before Rukia spoke again.

"If you'd like, then you could join us." The question was almost timid in its tone, and she wasn't looking at him, instead choosing to look at the papers that he had yet to organize on his desk.

"Really? I mean, if I'm not imposing on you two." He winced at his slip of the tongue, but Rukia felt slightly happy that he would like to join them.

"Of course not, Nii-sama won't mind you being there." Ichigo almost scoffed at that. The last time he had spoken to Byakuya had been after he had made Rukia his Lieutenant, and his words were not the most welcoming.

_~Flashback~_

_It was the day after Rukia's promotion, and Ichigo had just finished for the day and was signing the last document on his table. Rukia had surprised him by being extremely efficient when it came to paperwork, and had finished her half in the afternoon, an hour before him._

_He silently resolved to give her more paperwork to even the time difference; after all, what point was there in having her here if she was gone when he was finished? He heard the door open and looked up, almost wincing as he saw who was standing in his office._

_"Hello, Captain Kurosaki." Byakuya's voice was as cold as ever, and Ichigo felt that his eyes were piercing him, trying to bore into his very soul._

_"Yo, Byakuya." He responded, happy to see a flitter of irritation run across the man's stoic face._

_"I see that becoming a Captain has not improved your manners."_

_Ichigo simply glared. Byakuya continued, ignoring the glare. "I am here to discuss your recent actions, by which I mean promoting Rukia."_

_Ichigo knew that this was coming, and responded as coolly as he could. "What of it?" Another small flash of emotion passed across Byakuya's face before he responded. His voice chilling the room._

_"I know that you have made her your Lieutenant, despite that you were well aware of my objections to the promotion. I am here for you to explain yourself." The orange haired Captain scoffed at the other man and got up from his chair. Walking around his desk, he stood in front of Byakuya's intimidating form._

_"I don't see why I should, but I will since you are Rukia's brother." Byakuya noticed that he ignored his position as a Captain and a noble completely, focusing on his link to Rukia._

_"Then please, explain." The tone had the slightest hint of mockery in it, and Ichigo growled at the other man._

_"Why did I pull Rukia out from under your protection? She can take care of herself. You were holding her back to protect her, but she has proven that she doesn't need protecting. You were smothering her, and now she can be where she deserves, and I will always be there for her if she does need protecting," The last statement had a tone finality, and Byakuya couldn't help but be impressed by the boy's determination before him._

_"Do you think she should be here?" Ichigo was surprised by the noble, expecting something more along the lines of 'Scatter, Senbonzakura'._

_"Damn straight, she has every right to be in a position that she can be proud of." The 6th Squad Captain was silent after he spoke. Ichigo was unnerved by Byakuya's cold stare; they had not moved in several minutes and it didn't look like it fazed Byakuya._

_He surprised him by suddenly turning and walking towards the door. "Very well Kurosaki, I will not request that she be removed from the position. I do however expect you to keep your word." The tone had a hint of intimidation towards the end, leaving Ichigo irritated at the noble._

_"Arrogant ass." He muttered, turning back to his desk._

_Byakuya stopped outside the barracks and stood still for a moment, contemplating his actions. 'Should I have let him keep her as his Lieutenant? She has proven to be more than capable for the role, having killed an Espada. Hisana...would you want this?'_

_Truth be told, he was not all too happy that Rukia was now working under the rude and common boy Captain. Everything about him seemed to offend the noble within him, and yet he still somehow managed to perform great deeds. His sister seemed drawn to him, and he to her. His thoughts flitted back to the commoner whom he had fallen for so many years ago; she was more reserved and knew how to behave, something one could learn given enough time._

_'I'll give the boy one chance, to see if he is worthy of this honour.'_

_Mulling over his actions, the stoic Captain flash-stepped back to the Kuchiki mansion._

_~End flashback~_

Ichigo pondered over the memory; the noble hadn't been as objectionable as he thought he would be, not that he was accepting to begin with. '_Than again, he always sounds like that'_

* * *

><p>Ichigo stood at the entrance to the Kuchiki mansion, he had made sure to arrive with time to spare. Glancing at the guards, he remembered the words that Rukia had given him before she had departed to inform her brother of his arrival in the evening.<p>

'_Ichigo, if you want Nii-sama to treat you with respect, then you must do the same.'_

He scowled at the memory; he was to be on his best behaviour tonight. He honestly didn't think that the noble deserved it, but Rukia seemed rather adamant, so he had simply said that he would do his best.

Walking up to the gates, he glanced at the guards as they spoke to him. "What is your business here?"

Scowling at the efficient yet cold formality he responded. "I'm Captain Kurosaki, and I was invited here for dinner."

The guard nodded and stepped inside the door, speaking to another servant inside who went up to the house. The young Captain was left waiting with the two guards in silence, his scowl deepening the longer he was kept waiting in the street.

Finally, the servant returned and opened the door, beckoning him to follow her. "Captain Kuchiki is expecting you, please follow me to the dining hall." Ichigo just grunted and complied, following into the house.

It took them a few moments to get through the massive house, but the two eventually arrived at the waiting Kuchikis. The servant bowed and left, leaving the young Captain to Byakuya's glare, he and Rukia had stood when Ichigo entered.

"I'm glad you could join us, Captain Kurosaki." Ichigo felt irritation bubbling in him at the cold tone, but for once swallowed his pride and remembered what Rukia had said.

Gritting his teeth, he surprised both of them by bowing slightly when responding. "It's a pleasure to be invited, Captain Kuchiki." Byakuya was happily surprised at his sudden courteous attitude and nodded in response.

"It is no bother, my sister requested it. Please, sit." Ichigo nodded again and the three sat down in silence, waiting for the meal. Ichigo glanced at Rukia and noticed that she gave him a small smile, he returned it.

Surprisingly it was Byakuya that chose to break the silence, "How are you dealing with the workload as a Captain, Kurosaki?" He considered it for a moment before responding.

"I suppose it's okay. I'm getting used to the paperwork, and Rukia has been a lot of help, she's very efficient." Byakuya felt some pride rise in him and spared a glance at her who was avoiding them both and looking at the table, a small blush on her cheeks. "Training can be a chore, but I suppose it will be worth it in the end." He shrugged and Byakuya nodded.

"Well, those with skill have an obligation to pass it on." Ichigo was surprised by the subtle compliment, and even more so when Rukia spoke up for him.

"Nii-sama, Captain Kurosaki has decided on what he wants the squad members to prioritize on." Byakuya looked at him with the smallest hint of interest.

"Really? What have you decided?" He scratched the back of his head, not sure how Byakuya would react.

"Uh, I've decided that the 5th Squad should always focus on putting others protection before actually killing hollows or anything else."

Byakuya almost smirked at how obvious the choice was. One of the young Captains noticeable flaws was that he always tried to protect, regardless of the situation or person. At least he would lessen the weight on his own shoulders.

Instead, he just maintained his cold exterior and nodded, turning his attention to the dinner that had just entered through the doors to the kitchen. Once the food had been laid out, they all picked up their cutlery and began to eat.

Well, two of them did.

Ichigo stared at the multitude of different eating instruments in confusion, having never eaten this formally before. Hesitantly he reached for one of the forks, he stopped when he saw Byakuya's critical glare and hovered his hand over another.

The glare did not change. He looked to Rukia in desperation; he noticed with irritation that she had a similar cold look to her brother, except he could see amusement playing slightly in her eyes. As the two looked at Ichigo, he realized what Rukia was waiting for. '_She wants me to ask for help.'_

Growling, he promised the midget a slow and painful death for what he was about to do. Steeling his gaze, he looked at her and slowly pronounced every word.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know how to use these." It was clear that she was taking his polite façade to its absolute maximum, and a look of mock surprise appeared on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ichigo, use the third fork for the meal, the last knife for cheese and the fifth for the rest." Fighting back a retort, he nodded his head in thanks, and silently focused on his meal. Inwardly he complained at the portions as he was used to eating once more, but like the rest of the evening he kept his mouth shut.

They ate in silence, it was uncomfortable for both Ichigo and Rukia, since they had become used to eating together a lot of the time since his return. Taking advantage of the silence however, Rukia turned her head slightly and shot a small smirk at the Captain who was looking around, having finished his meal quickly.

This was the final straw and, raising his head to her, he announced loudly. "Rukia, I just remembered that your report is due in about your activity's with the squad, I hope it is not late like last time." Her eyes widened at this, and the room was silent as Byakuya turned towards her.

Ichigo, of course had no problem with it being the day late that it was. He also knew the reason; he had hidden it from her when she had been laughing at him for not having a filing system where he could find things.

"Rukia, is this true?" If possible the noble's tone had grown colder, and Rukia looked down at the table.

"This will not do Rukia, you are a Kuchiki, and I expect you to behave as such. I hope all the time spent raising you to handle responsibility like an adult was not wasted." She kept her eyes off him, ashamed that her brother had reprimanded her and that she had failed him. Ichigo turned to smirk at her, before he actually saw the effect of his comment.

"I am deeply sorry, Nii-sama." She replied softly, still not meeting his gaze.

Simply continuing to look coldly at her, he responded. "Well, I hope that such an incident shall not be brought to my attention again, I would not wish for the family's name to be tarnished because of you." Ichigo nearly saw red, but he couldn't blame Byakuya solely, after all, he had told like a child.

In his anger, he had forgotten that Rukia prized her brother's opinion of her and would do nearly anything to impress him. A part of her always wanted to please him, regardless of if she agreed with him or not. Now that Byakuya had a reason to doubt her readiness for her new position, and because Ichigo had been the cause, she had fallen into '_noble Rukia'_.

He had named this state when he had noticed how she acted around her brother when in public, or when being reprimanded by him. She was submissive and took much of what he said to heart, even if she knew it was more for the other nobles. She attempted to be the same as him, a perfect noble.

Ichigo hated '_noble Rukia'_.

Realizing that he had been the root cause of her change in mood, and it would be no easy task in rectifying that mistake, Ichigo almost banged his head on the table. He wanted to go and tell Byakuya to shove it, but Rukia had asked him to be on his best behavior, and he would seem like a giant hypocrite if he did.

He risked another glance at Rukia in the silence, and this time she caught his gaze. His heart wrenched painfully and almost stopped at the clear emotion in her eyes, betrayal.

'_Enough is enough'_

Raising his head to Byakuya, Ichigo prepared to shatter any new hope the man had gained from this evening. "Actually, I would appreciate it if you don't insult Rukia like that, Byakuya."

The older man cocked an eyebrow at him, and both Kuchikis looked at him. Rukia had a mix of emotions, and betrayal was still there, but confusion as well. "And why should I not, if she failed to do work that you gave her-"

Ichigo cut him of rudely, going all out. "That's the thing, I forgot to tell Rukia when I was told, and she had about half the time she should have had because of that."

Byakuya turned his attention to Ichigo now, his cold eyes piercing him. "And you thought this acceptable for a Captain, to not even _tell_ your Lieutenant that you failed in your duties?"

Inwardly cursing himself, he delivered the final stroke to destroy any respect Byakuya had for him. "I didn't really think about what would happen to her." The nobles eyes widened a fraction before they narrowed dangerously.

"I suggest you do in the future, or I will have to remind you." Ichigo gulped at the warning, and the noble turned to Rukia. "I apologize for reprimanding you, clearly it was your Captain who was at fault."

Rukia just moved her eyes to him for a second before turning back to her previous target, almost gaping at Ichigo. She hadn't wanted to point out that they bickered in the work place to her brother, and knew that if she told him that Ichigo had hidden the file, it would lower the image that he had tried to create with this visit.

She hadn't expected him to throw it away himself, moments after she had taken the fall for both of them. Now he was scowling deeply at his plate, not looking at either of them, and remained silent for the duration of the meal.

After the meal was over, the Captain and Lieutenant stood beside each other, having just left the Kuchiki mansion. Rukia had insisted that it was her duty to see him out, and Byakuya had agreed, but not without shooting Ichigo another glare. So now, they stood in silence just outside the gates.

Rukia was the one to break it. "You didn't have to do that, fool. I can take the blame for some of our inappropriate actions, even if it was _your _fault." He just snorted and looked away.

"Yeah right, it's not like my image matters to him anyway, stuck-up prick-" She elbowed him in the stomach and glared back at him.

"Don't talk about Nii-sama that way, he is a good man!" Ichigo just rolled his eyes and started walking off. "Where are you going?" she cried with irritated.

He didn't turn as he responded. "Home. Some of us don't live in a mansion, and we still have work tomorrow, sleep tight midget." He flash-stepped before she could respond and left her to go back into the house alone, mumbling about his rude actions.

* * *

><p>Byakuya watched the scene between his adopted sister and the Captain with interest. He suspected that the boy had only spoken up to rectify his mistake in trying to get back at her. As much as people said otherwise, he did know something about his sister, and knew that she would work hard if she had it given to her.<p>

He was more surprised that the new Captain had obviously broken down the image that he had attempted to create with the noble, or at least the idea that he _could_ be courteous if necessary. That was part of the reason for why he had reprimanded her there, in front of him. Normally he would wait and not embarrass her, but since the execution incident, the way he dealt with her had...changed.

He had done it to show the boy the consequences of his actions, and partly to see if he would do what was expected of him. As usual, he exceeded them; he was rude and insulting and claimed to do things that were clearly against his nature. In some ways, this made him cautious about the relationship of the two, though in others it did promise some amusement. After all, toying with the boy was an entertaining past time (though he would never say it out loud).

Beta'd by OpenSourceArtist

(A/N) I am interested as to what you thought of this chapter. This is Byakuya giving Ichigo a chance, after all he spent more time with his sister, and knows her despite how cold he appears to be. That doesn't mean he will accept them completely graciously, he has his limits of tolerance :P

Hope you liked he chapter anyhow, thanks for all the reviews as always! Look forward to reading them again.


	11. Mission Accepted

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Certain accidents were bound to happen when training new squad members to reach materialization with their Zanpakuto. After all, some powers were more potent than others, and required more training in order to be used correctly. Ichigo accepted this when he started the training the day after his...eventful evening at the Kuchiki mansion.

However, he did not plan for this.

He stood, looking dumbly at the spot where the east end of his barracks _used_ to be. There was now a giant crater, and not much else. Behind him where the rest of his squad, including the one responsible, with the same expression as him, Rukia was the first to snap out of it, turning to the guilty party.

"Would you mind explaining why we just lost a section of our squad barracks?" The trainee looked at her nervously. She had gotten something of a reputation for being the more strict between her and Ichigo, since he was usually just a bit irritated or uncaring.

Stuttering, the recruit replied nervously, "W-well you see my Zanpakuto's power i-is to move objects through space for a short distance." Ichigo finally broke out of his shock and turned around, looking more impressed than annoyed.

"That's pretty cool, where's it gone to then." He looked down and muttered something into the ground, causing Rukia to growl with irritation, at both the recruit and her Captain's attitude.

"Shut up, Ichigo. Now speak up, where is it?" Looking at his Captain rather than face his Lieutenant's cold glare he replied guiltily.

"I...lost control in shock...I don't know where it's gone." Rukia scowled at him and turned to Ichigo, who just raised his eyebrows and turned back to the missing chunk.

"Well...that's a pain." Rukia raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

"Is that all you can say?" He shrugged and waved off the surrounding Shinigami.

"Go do something else, what else can I say? I made mistakes when I trained with Urahara, and we have no idea what powers they have." Ignoring her glare, he walked of to find an officer.

She followed him, neither spoke whilst they walked until Rukia saw who he was looking for. "Your fourth seat is just over there."

Her voice lacked the cold edge to it and the Captain smiled internally, hoping that would be the last he heard of it. "Thanks, midget." She rolled her eyes as they walked up to the officer, who was talking in a group with a few other members. As they approached, they caught some of the conversation.

"...I suppose she's an okay Lieutenant, maybe a bit harsh but she gets the job done." Rukia shot him a smug smile and it was his turn to roll his eyes.

Another member spoke up, none of them having noticed the Captain approaching them. "What about Captain Kurosaki."

"I haven't seen that much of him, he seems laid back, but he isn't what I expected from the stories...He's not as much of a bad-ass as they make him sound." Rukia was fighting back laughter by this point, and Ichigo was seeing red.

"Is that so." The group froze at the sound of their Captain's voice. Slowly they turned their heads to see him, all praying that they had misheard him. By the glare he was shooting his fourth seat, they had not.

"U-uh Captain..." That was as far as he got under Ichigo's glare, he looked back to his friends for help but they where either holding back laughter or looking at him with pity.

"I'm sorry if I don't meet your expectations, but I would be happy to give you a private demonstration." The man paled, if possibly, even further, and shook his head rapidly.

"No! That won't be necessary, Captain." He was not placated however, and just continued to glare.

"Then I suggest you move your ass down to the Fourth Squad and tell them that we have misplaced the east end of our barracks." He got a few questioning looks, but he ignored them in favor of glaring at his near shaking fourth seat. The man had not moved, so he leaned in closer and ordered softly.

"Move." The officer jumped and ran without question from the room, leaving the rest of his friends with the now less, irritated Captain. He gave them a look, but walked off after a moment, his Lieutenant once again beside him.

"That building will come out of your wages." Rukia reminded him, only getting a grunt in response.

Despite not responding, the thought triggered another, his wages. The only time he had actually spent any money was when he went out with Rukia to grab some lunch. The thoughts of what else he might want for his sparse living quarters and office occupied him as he wondered back to his office with Rukia.

The day was just about over when the two of them looked up to see a hell butterfly approaching after they had shifted into his office to work together for a while since it was more convenient. It landed between them and relayed a message to both of them.

'_This is a message to all Captains and Lieutenants; there is a meeting by order of the Captain Commander which is compulsory. All relevant members must report in as soon as possible.'_

It's job done, the butterfly left the two, and Ichigo looked down at the pile of work. "It's a good thing that we are basically done, let's go midget." Rukia glared at him, and wiped his smirk off his face by knocking a small stack of files off the desk.

"Oops, looks like you'll have to rearrange them after the meeting." Ichigo snarled and pushed out of his chair, grumbling as he stepped over the files.

"Bitch, that took me an hour to do." She just jabbed him in the stomach and walked ahead slightly. Ichigo grunted but didn't respond, as he probably deserved it.

* * *

><p>All of the Captains, with the exception of the 3rd and 9th, stood in front of Yamamoto with their Lieutenants standing behind them, all waiting patiently. The Captain Commander brought down his cane and the meeting officially started, no one else making a sound.<p>

"I have called you all here to discuss an urgent matter. A few days ago we lost contact with a squad of scouts that we had posted in Hueco Mundo in case the remaining Arrancar revealed themselves, or Aizen had other forces in reserve." No one moved, and he continued.

"I therefore believe that we must send a team to eradicate whatever threat they had found, and if necessary retreat with information on what we are dealing with."

He looked around at the assembled Shinigami, all who were looking at him expectantly. After a few moments of deliberation, he made his choices.

"For this mission, I ask that Captain Kurosaki and Lieutenants: Abarai, Kira, Kotetsu, and a team of members from the Fifth Squad. Are you all prepared for this?" This was a clear invitation to open up the floor, and Unohana stepped forward.

"May I ask why you are requesting my Lieutenant on this mission?" The old man turned his attention to the eldest woman present.

"This mission could be very risky, so I want immediate and expert aid to be available for the team." Unohana seemed to accept this reasoning and stood back, only for Ichigo to step forward.

"Uh, I will go but shouldn't someone else lead the mission, I haven't lead a squad before." Yamamoto squinted at him as always before responding.

"You have spent ample time in Hueco Mundo to know how to fight there, and you have lead your friends when they accompanied you. I do not believe that another Captain will be required." Ichigo was surprised by the faith the man had in him and bowed his head slightly, stepping back into line.

The only other person with a problem was Kenpachi who looked irritated because he wasn't invited along. "Why can't I go? If there is anyone worth fighting then it will be in that desert!" but Yamamoto just shook his head.

"You are not required Captain Zaraki, and will not be going on this mission." He looked like he wanted to argue back, but didn't instead looking like he was brooding on it. With all the interruptions out of the way, Yamamoto turned his head back towards the whole group.

"You will leave at dawn tomorrow, until then you are dismissed." The assembly filed out of the room, with a few grouping up afterwards to discuss the mission.

Ichigo walked out with Rukia on one side, and Renji on the other, feeling confused about the mission that he had been given. She noticed his strange look and rolled her eyes. "Don't wear that stupid face, Ichigo. You would have to lead a mission at some time, and it's not like this is nothing you haven't done before."

Renji joined in, clapping a hand on his back, "Yeah, though I don't fancy taking orders from someone like _you_." He laughed and Ichigo turned to him.

"What was that, pineapple? That's a shame because you're going to have to." The Lieutenant growled back at him and huffed.

"I'm supposed to, as long as you don't get me killed." The orange haired Captain glared back and pulled out his ace.

"Oh, well I would hate to have to inform Byakuya of your lack of discipline." Renji froze for a second before stalking off, muttering insults under his breath. He knew exactly what his Captain would do if he found out that he was disobeying orders from a Captain, even if it was Ichigo, and it wouldn't be pretty.

Ichigo smirked at his retreating form before turning and almost jumping as the fourth squad Captain took his place.

"Captain Kurosaki, I hope you will take care during the mission." There was a definite threat of something...horrible, if anything happened to her Lieutenant. He stared at her in shock for a moment before nodding rapidly and responding.

"I will take every precaution necessary, I hope your Lieutenant will not even be needed." She smiled her weird, creepy smile and walked off, taking his words as a promise. Ichigo was given the creeps by the 'healer' so much so that he jumped slightly when Rukia poked his arm.

"Ichigo-" She gave him a strange look and he grumbled and turned away.

"What? She's creepy, it's worse than your school girl thing." Rukia debated whether that should earn him some physical abuse, but decided on just ignoring his stupidity.

For now.

"Whatever, did you want to do something? We were finished when we left, and the meeting didn't last that long." She looked at him questioningly and he considered it.

On one hand, he could remember the stack of paperwork that she had knocked over that still had to be re-filed. On the other, he could go and spend some time outside of the office or Kido practice with Rukia. Rukia would win as always.

"Yeah, give me a sec." He wondered if he should remind her of her thoughtful joke, but decided that she would just bitch at him for leaving it for later. "How about you show me that shopping area you were speaking about the other day, or is it too late?"

Rukia shook her head and looked up to the sky. "No, in fact I would say that we are going at prime time." Ichigo gave quick smile, before his face settled into his usual scowl as he realized what he was going to be doing.

He was going shopping with a woman. Damn. He hadn't really thought about it when he mentioned it, but he was kind of regretting it now. On one hand, it might not be too bad, on the other Rukia was bad enough in the human world, making him buy her anything that was cute enough, or using his money without asking him to buy Chappy related things.

Surely, she would be better in the Soul Society. Right?

* * *

><p>Shopping may not have been the best option. Ichigo had come to this conclusion after following Rukia around countless stores, most of which sold very similar items. Groaning, he looked over to his happy Lieutenant.<p>

"When you said you were going to show me around, I didn't mean around Chappy shops." She just glared at him and went into another shop which was selling the same thing.

He followed her, but groaned again, mumbling something about a rabbit obsessed midget. Rukia just ignored him, feeling quite happy with her current position. This grew when she spotted a limited edition plush toy.

She squealed, causing Ichigo to jump, and looked at it with awe. "Wow, look at that, Ichigo!"

He rolled his eyes and walked up next to her. "Very nice, but you said that you were out of spending money." She scrunched up her face as she remembered that she was indeed out of money.

Turning to him, she looked up with wide eyes and pouting lips. He took one look at her and crossed his arms, scowling. "Not happening, midget." She continued to stare at him and he looked away. After a few moments, he ventured a look back, only to find her still staring at him with almost teary, big, violet eyes.

He looked into them for a few moments before snapping out of it and shaking his head. "No. We are leaving." Grabbing her wrist, he pulled a pouting Rukia out of the shop and into the street, ignoring the female cashier giggling behind him.

Once they were out, he pulled her along aimlessly, just trying to get out of what he had now dubbed: Chappy district. The petite Shinigami stopped pulling against him after a couple of yards, allowing him to lead them without any idea of where he was.

He felt some resistance behind him again, and he turned back questioningly. "Do you even know where you're going?" He just scowled and looked away, and Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Anywhere but here." He looked around for a moment, not recognizing the area. "Where are we now?"

Rukia looked around too before answering. "We are still in the shopping district, but this area sells food mainly." Ichigo looked around, surprised.

"Really? I wonder why no one told me about any of this stuff, I mean, I've been here a couple of months now." She just rolled her eyes and gave him an exasperated look.

"You have been busy with your duties as a Captain and I didn't want to sidetrack you. Besides, you are rather unobservant if you didn't notice that the Seireitei is larger than just the division barracks and Central 46." The young Captain scowled, but didn't retort. It was true that he never really considered what else was in the Seireitei aside from the few places that Rukia had taken him.

As she watched him thinking, realization hit and her eyes widened, and speaking softly, she called out to him. "Ichigo..." He turned to her, surprised at her tone.

"What, Rukia?" She looked down and he followed her gaze. Finally, he noticed that at some point when they had been standing there that his hand had slipped off her wrist and was now holding her hand.

A deep blush spread across his face and he pulled his hand back hard as he took a few steps back to regain his balance. Rukia was embarrassed too, but she couldn't deny that deep down, she missed his large hand holding hers for it was a comfort that she had never known before. Ichigo wasn't faring any better, as the memory of her soft fingers was playing across his mind as he stuttered for an apology.

"U-uh sorry...I didn't realize..." He mumbled some more under his breath and she smirked at him, despite the current situation. Turning around, she walked off, leaving him alone for a moment before he noticed she had left and he ran after her.

"Oi, Rukia where are you going?" She only turned her head slightly to respond, not stopping for him.

"If you want to experience Seireitei food then you better hurry up strawberry." He grinned in spite of himself, and Ichigo jogged up to her side, with a half-hearted glare.

"Silly midget, leaving me alone." She smirked back at him.

"Aww, did I hurt Captain 'berry's feelings?" He just scowled in response and looked around at the stalls lining the street.

"So, where are you taking me for your fancy food?" Rukia fought back the urge to hit him again, instead settling on insulting him.

"Well carrot-top, I'm taking you to a vendor that I've known my whole life." Ichigo ignored the insult and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, so was he from your Rukongai District?" She nodded her head before continuing.

"He and his wife were there before me, but moved into the Seireitei when a Captain, who took a liking to their food on one of the old inspections a long time ago, offered them some property here. I haven't seen them in a long time actually, not since Kaien died." She looked sad as she finished, so Ichigo wondered why she hadn't gone, when he asked her she just shrugged.

She had spoken of Kaien before, and he knew how much he had meant to her. He had been what her brother should have been before, the person who built her up as a strong person and helped her become who she was today. Apparently, she had idolized his wife more so than she did him, but he was the friend that was always there and was all she had after Renji's abandonment.

He would have liked to meet him, maybe one day he would, you never now with the reincarnation cycles and such. It would be lying to say that he didn't feel a tinge of envy for all those years he had never known her, but he was glad she had someone then.

"I haven't had the time, and when I do I forget to visit them. Still I'm glad I got around to it." Ichigo just nodded and remembered something else that she had said.

"What do you mean by old inspections?" Rukia smiled sadly and turned her head to face him.

"Well, a few hundred years ago, all of the Rukongai districts had some of the squads check up on them every now and again, to make sure that peace was maintained. However, that stopped after the districts became too big to mange, or that's what they say at least. So really only the first five or so districts have any sort of police, the rest just do what they can."

"I remember when I was in your area briefly...it was horrible." Rukia just snorted and waved him off.

"The people who live there, like I used to, learn to deal with it. They get along just fine." Ichigo didn't need to double check to tell that she was lying to him, but he didn't push the matter, as her eyes had lightened up as they approached a booth.

An old woman was working, and looked up, her eyes grew wide in surprise. "Rukia? Is that you dear?" Rukia smiled widely and walked up to the booth, Ichigo trailing behind her slightly.

"Yes, Hiromi. I'm sorry it has been so long." The old woman just chuckled, and Ichigo looked her over. She had curly grey hair and a cheerful, yet wrinkly face. She put down the food she had been preparing and called out.

"Juro, come out here, we have a guest." There was a shuffling around in the back and around from behind the wall came her husband. He was as old as her, and exactly what you would expect; his face seemed just as cheery and wrinkled, though his waist was wider and he had thin head of grey hair on his balding head.

He smiled as she had when he saw Rukia before him. "Ah, it seems our favorite Shinigami has come to visit at last." His wife smiled again, and then noticed Ichigo, who was watching the scene with interest.

"It looks like she has brought a visitor as well, that's new!" Three pairs of eyes turned to the Captain as he scowled as usual, unsure what to do with the attention. Juro, who chuckled and nudged Rukia across the counter, broke the silence.

"Does he always look so grumpy Rukes?" She smirked back and nodded, turning to see Ichigo's scowl deepen slightly.

"Oh yes, the strawberry does like to look tough." He growled and took a step towards her.

"I am not a strawberry, you midget." Hiromi chuckled at the pair and spoke to Ichigo.

"Well, who might you be..." She gave him a once over and looked back at him"...Captain?" Ichigo blinked dumbly for a second, then realized that she had obviously seen his haori.

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain of the 5th Squad." The old lady smiled at this and turned to Rukia, pointing to her insignia.

"And you are now his Lieutenant?" She grinned back briefly, surprising Ichigo with how happy she looked. Juro then spoke up, a small frown on his face.

"Kurosaki...I've heard that name before." He looked over at Ichigo and did the same as his wife; took in his appearance: the Haori, orange hair, amber eyes, and blade strapped to his back. Suddenly it seemed to click and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Wait, Ichigo...the Substitute Shinigami?" Ichigo scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and Rukia rolled her eyes at his fame.

"Uh, not any more, I've been a Captain for a few months." The old man started to grin widely, and his wife suddenly cottoned on to what he had realized and took another look at the young Captain.

"Oh, you're the one they have stories about." Ichigo was quite surprised at this and just blinked at her. Rukia crossed her arms and sighed, tilting her head towards him.

"Why did you say that? His ego didn't need to get any larger." The married couple chuckled at her and Ichigo smirked and puffed out his chest slightly. She noticed and instantly stuck out her leg and tripped him to the floor.

"Argh- what the hell!" He asked from the ground, sitting up and rubbing his back where he had landed. Rukia turned away from him, back towards the old couple.

"I could practically feel your ego growing, so I decided to help you out." Ichigo grumbled as he stood up, and Hiromi laughed at the pair.

"Young love, you two make such a cute couple." Both froze for a second before they spluttered and turned red. Well Ichigo spluttered, Rukia just looked at the ground and avoided their eyes. Finally, Ichigo regained the power of speech.

"N-no, we are just friends." The old woman just nodded in understanding, with a twinkle in her eye. Neither noticed it and the tried to go on as if the moment had never happened.

The four spent the rest of the afternoon and evening talking about numerous things; Ichigo was told a few stories about Rukia before she became a Shinigami, and in return Ichigo shared some of his own stories about the world of the living, most of them involving Rukia.

They didn't notice when the sun dipped below the horizon, and night took over, with them still chatting away in the candlelight.

Beta'd by OpenSourceArtist

(A/N) Updates might get less frequent now as I am going back to school and I will have work to do :/ I will try and keep it semi-regular though.

Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry if I couldn't respond.


	12. Sayonara

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

_**Arc Two – An Unwelcome Vacation**_

The members that had been picked for the mission started assembling at the senkaimon; most of them were arriving on time. In fact, all were there and ready, including the members from squad five, aside from a certain orange haired Captain who was conspicuously missing.

After a few minutes of waiting, Renji was about to go and get him and beat him for making them wait, but stopped when he heard voices in the distance.

"...not my fault that we were up late last night!" It was hard _not_ to hear them. Two shouting voices were quickly approaching, and everyone had a good idea of who it was.

"I didn't see you leaving when it got to midnight! Besides it may not be your fault for being up late, but it is for not waking up on time." Suddenly a disgruntled looking Ichigo and an irritated Rukia rounded a corner.

"I expected you to wake me up, isn't that your job?" Rukia growled and her eye twitched at her equally irritated Captain.

"No, I expect you to be able to at least wake up without me babying you." He scoffed and neither spoke until they arrived at the waiting group. All eyes were on them and Rukia shot a glare at Ichigo before apologizing to them.

"I'm sorry we are late, my _Captain_ decided to not wake up on time today." He glared at her but stepped forward, looking around at the group.

Renji rolled his eyes. "Nice first impressions, strawberry. You finally ready to get this show on the road?" The already agitated Captain growled at the redheaded Lieutenant and responded angrily.

"Watch it, pineapple, I'm not in the mood. Now, why are we standing around?" This time the blonde-haired Lieutenant Kira answered. He and the 4th Squad Lieutenant were standing together slightly apart from the rest.

Renji walked over to Rukia, bending down and smirking. "You know, I don't think being disrespectful to your Captain will get you far Rukes." She scowled but didn't say anything. After all, he was technically her superior and at least in public she should treat him with some respect. Otherwise, no one would.

Kira ignored them and continued. "For missions of this calibre, another Captain will be chosen by the Captain Commander to send us off, and help open the garganta." Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

"How is he going to do that?" Kira took a small device out of his robe and held it up for Ichigo to see.

"This is a device that Kurotsuchi created which allows Shinigami capable of creating a senkaimon to create a relatively stable garganta." He scowled at the 'relatively stable', but he supposed it was better than expected. After all, last time they had to wait for Urahara to create his stable tunnel for the Captains.

Remembering something from last night, Ichigo looked around. "Say, if Byakuya isn't here yet, I'll be right back."

Kira nodded and Renji just rolled his eyes again. Taking that as enough of a reason, Ichigo surprised Rukia by grabbing her arm and dragging her off yet again.

He didn't go far, just into the forest next to the gate, enough to be hidden from view. Rukia pulled away from him in irritation, having no idea why he had brought her with him. "What is it, fool?" Ichigo scowled and turned away from her, mumbling something.

After waiting for a few moments without any change, Rukia rolled her eyes and started to walk away before Ichigo spoke up.

"Wait a sec." She stopped and turned to glare at him.

"Hurry up, you are making a bad impression on them!" Ichigo just responded by rolling his eyes. Turning around, Rukia noticed that he had a hand inside his robe and he looked to be holding something.

"Shut it, I just wanted to stop your whining." She raised an eyebrow and watched as he pulled a badly wrapped package out of his uniform and chucked it over to her.

Still confused, Rukia pulled away at the wrapping and excess amounts of sticky-tape. When she finally released the present, she widened her eyes in shock as the paper fell to the ground; it was the plush Chappy doll that she had wanted last night, but didn't have enough money to afford it at the time. She had asked him with no hope of getting it, if only to annoy him more than anything else.

"Ichigo..." She looked up at him, eyes shining with happiness and he looked away, embarrassed.

"I went and got it when I woke up early. I don't really have anything I want to spend my money on." '_Except you'_ He blushed at the thought and continued to look away. He also didn't want to reveal that he had pretty much emptied his bank account getting that stupid bunny. Apparently it was _very_ limited indeed. Nevertheless, what he said was true; he didn't need to buy anything and he got a lot with his Captain's salary.

Looking back up, he saw her squeezing it very tightly and smiled, happy that she liked it. After another moment of her hugging her latest addition to her Chappy collection, she looked up at him again.

"Thank you, Ichigo." He smiled widely at her and she responded with a soft, almost shy smile. It quickly turned into a smirk as she held up the toy. "I wonder how people would react if they knew you were just a big softie."

Ichigo flushed angrily and looked away grumbling. "I'm not a softie, midget." Rukia just smirked, letting the insult pass and brought the gift to her lips, planting a small kiss on the bunny's forehead.

Ichigo noticed out of the corner of his eye and spoke up on impulse. "Hey, where's mine? That toy gets treated better than me!"

As soon as he realized what he had said, he blushed heavily and found the grassy floor very interesting all of a sudden. Rukia was no better, but something told her to respond, and she did without thinking.

"Maybe when you get back." Ichigo's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open like a fish. They stood like that for a moment; Ichigo looking idiotic and Rukia with a red tinge to her cheeks and her eyes fixed on the Chappy plush doll.

"Ahem." Both turned sharply at the noise and froze when they saw who had come to see them off, it was none other than Byakuya Kuchiki.

"I have opened the garganta and your team is wait- what is going on?" He interrupted himself when he noticed that his sister and the Captain were very alone in a private place. His eyes narrowed as he saw the light blush on both of their cheeks and he turned to the blushing Captain.

"I advise you move now, boy." Ichigo, forgetting his current situation straightened and shouted back at the irate noble.

"What the hell Byaku-" He stopped suddenly when he saw the Captain drop his hand to his blade and use his thumb to move the hilt.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Ichigo paled as the sword disintegrated into the all too familiar pink blossoms that started to gather around him.

Rukia looked up to see him fleeing back towards the rest of his group with what looked like a million pink angry bee's chasing him. Smirking to herself, she looked back at the plush and walked back to the 5th Squad Barracks, her heart much lighter.

Ichigo however was seen by the rest of his team running out of the forest with an angry noble chasing him. Without stopping, he grabbed Renji and pulled him along, shouting out to the group as he ran to the great black rip.

"C'mon, no time like the present guys!" They wasted no time, no-one wanting to feel Byakuya's petals which seemed to be ignoring anybody else and going through them if necessary to get to the orange haired boy.

There was a flurry of movement and all the members of the team hopped into the darkness and onto their own reiatsu path, the 5th Squad members following behind their Captain. As the portal closed, a few petals found their way into the darkness and Ichigo yelped as he felt a sudden pain in his backside.

Meanwhile, Byakuya gave a tiny smirk as he heard the yelp echo from inside the hole as it close, repairing the rip between dimensions.

* * *

><p>Ichigo was still wincing as they hopped out the other end of the garganta into the sands of Hueco Mundo. Renji however, found the whole thing hilarious.<p>

"Haha, what the hell did you do to piss the Captain off that much?" Ichigo scowled and looked out into the dunes.

"Nothing, but apparently he thought I was in an inappropriate situation." He was purposefully vague on the details, but that didn't stop the red-headed Lieutenant from catching on to what he meant. He had seen Ichigo drag Rukia into the forest and could add two and two together.

The thought sobered him a bit and he sneered at a confused Ichigo and turned away. Izuru walked up to the Captain and followed his gaze out into the dunes.

"Captain Kurosaki, I-" Ichigo cut him of with a wave of the hand, but didn't turn to him. He had a far off look in his eyes as he responded.

"Ichigo, don't be so formal." The Lieutenant nodded and continued.

"Very well then, Ichigo. Did you have any ideas about where we should begin in this mission?" Ichigo turned, but his eyes didn't seem to be focused on him. Izuru glanced to his left and saw that all the members were listening now, some looking at Ichigo strangely.

"Where to begin? I can see the ruins of Las Noches in the distance, looking as far away as ever, I suppose we should start there if we suspect these forces to be linked to the remnants of Aizen and the Espada." Izuru nodded, Ichigo continued, looking up at the half-moon with an odd expression on his face.

"It's been a while since I've been here, it's strangely comforting and yet I don't know why, the air is foul, and this is a land of dust and darkness. It's like a forgotten memory, something is right yet so wrong about this place." Everyone was looking very confused now, as he seemed to be rambling surprisingly eloquently to himself. He stood for a moment longer, bathing in the crescent moon before he seemed to snap out of it and blinked, looking around.

"C'mon I want to finish this quick and get out of this dust bowl." Scowling as always he did, everyone watched as he strode up the dune in the direction of the infamous land of the ex-Captain. He shot a look over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow when no one was following him.

"That's an order, move it." He growled out, breaking them out of their one-sided staring contest. The officers walked in silence, each shooting glances at each other as they followed behind their strange Captain. The members from the 5th Squad were talking amongst themselves, some in low tones, and some in more relaxed tones.

Renji trotted up besides Ichigo and looked at him with confusion as he spoke. "What was with that random weird speech, Ichigo?" He got a blank look for a few seconds and then a shrug from the Captain.

"I don't know, I just felt really weird being back here...maybe my hollow likes being home." Renji raised an eyebrow, unaware that his hollow was still really an issue.

"He's still in there?" His hollow spoke up for the first time since they had arrived, in his usual annoyed voice.

'_**Tell the pineapple to shut it, or I'll paint the sand red...it would match the bastard's hair.' **_Ichigo chuckled to himself at his hollow's words. It seemed that he was right about the hollow being at least marginally placated at the thought of going to Hueco Mundo and killing...well, killing anything.

"What?" Renji asked, curious as to why he was laughing.

"Oh, he says that you should shut up or he will make the sand match your hair." It took Renji a few moments to catch onto the meaning and he snarled at Ichigo.

"The fuck, keep your pussy hollow under control strawberry." Ichigo heard the hollow start to rant inside his head, promising numerous deaths and copious amounts of pain to the unhearing Lieutenant.

Instead of relaying the messages, Ichigo just smirked at him. "I do, that is why you are still alive." Renji was about to retort, but caught the serious gleam in his eyes. He knew that he couldn't really know how difficult it was to contain something like that inside him, only that even Ichigo, one of the strongest willed people he knew, had trouble dealing with it all the time.

Renji grumbled something and dropped back, falling in step with the other Lieutenants who were both looking at the Captain. Izuru was the first one to speak when he noticed that Renji had joined them.

"Abarai, what's up with him?" Renji looked back to Ichigo who, despite his ever-present scowl, looked quite relaxed as he forged ahead across the sand. Sighing slightly he turned his attention back to the two waiting Lieutenants.

"Nothing, he's just feeling nostalgic from when he was first here." It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a lie either really. He could tell that Ichigo was reminded of all the suffering that happened here by his relatively sombre attitude since they had arrived. He wasn't going to go revealing sensitive information on Ichigo's inner troubles. After all, he was a good friend.

"You sure? He said some weird stuff." Renji just waved a hand dismissively at him.

"Bah, carrot-top really likes that Shakespeare guy, he just had one of those weird moments." Izuru looked at him for a second before nodding and looking away. The white haired Lieutenant then spoke up, looking at Renji and smiling softly.

"Do you know what he wanted to talk to Lieutenant Kuchiki about?" He frowned and shook his head, only for Isane to smile slightly and look back at Ichigo.

"I think he got her a present for some reason." Renji's eyes widened slightly and he raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you think that?" She blushed slightly and looked away.

"I heard a bit of their conversation from where I was." Renji looked at her expectantly and she continued, looking over to the oblivious Captain. "He got her something she wanted I think, she seemed very happy."

"What would Rukia want?" He said aloud. He almost rolled his eyes when he got the answer, of course, something Chappy related. He smirked at the thought of Ichigo buying something like that, but beneath that, he felt pain.

He knew they were close, closer than they even realized. One day they would figure it out, and nothing he could say or do would stop that. If he ever had a chance at Rukia, he had lost it more than forty years ago. His feelings hadn't changed, but even he could see that he was no contest against Ichigo.

However, that didn't make it any less painful to realize.

* * *

><p>Rukia sat on a grassy bank in the Soul Society, looking out at the peaceful Seireitei in the twilight. In her lap was the Chappy that Ichigo had bought her before he had left on his trip. It had been a few hours since he had left and the gift had not yet left her side; it was either being held by her or sitting on her desk as she worked. She squeezed it softly as she thought of Ichigo out on his mission in Hueco Mundo, wondering what he was doing.<p>

"Idiot..." She said softly as she looked down at the bunny. It was not the first one that she had managed to get from him, not by a long shot. When she was stationed in the world of the living she had managed to coerce him into buying her a few, along with other types of Chappy merchandise. He had been complaining as to why he had done it, but he had done it nevertheless, on the proviso that she makes sure it was well hidden in his room.

'_His image would be a bit ruined if his family found him secretly hoarding Chappy merchandise'._ She snorted in amusement at the idea and absently her fingers played with the fur on the white plush.

Her mind wondered back to what she had said before her brother, interrupted, them. '_Maybe when you get back'_. Why had she said that? She said it on impulse and was still confused as to why she had even considered it. Something had prompted her, and she wanted to try it. For some reason she actually wanted to try something like-like _that_!

'_What am I thinking about?'_ She blushed to herself as she thought about him, and about what she had inadvertently suggested. Maybe it was all her manga, she had her fair share of romance manga, and the girls in that always wanted a kiss from a certain person. They would fantasize about it and eventually would get it, and apparently, it would feel like heaven to them.

Rukia had always been curious about this, in over a hundred years she had never found someone that she felt anything like that for, and always wondered if the girls in the manga were just weird. Had something changed? Surely, she didn't feel anything, as they did for _him_, for the boy, no man, who always managed to surprise her with some new level of brash stupidity.

Yet she couldn't deny she was curious. She wanted to try it for some reason, but she didn't know why and at the same time was afraid of this strange feeling. She shook her head trying to get rid of the strange thoughts that she was having about her orange haired friend. _Friend_, nothing more.

* * *

><p>The group stopped to make camp for a few hours, since the members that were not Lieutenants or above they were getting weary of the constant movement. The group split subtly as they all sat down to rest. The 5th Squad members staying together, and the Lieutenants sitting together in a group. Ichigo did not sit to rest, he wasn't tired and for the time being stood on the dunes, looking at the looming palace.<p>

**'**_**Being here makes me so...hungry.'**_ His hollow, who had been rather quiet, said and Ichigo heard the longing in his voice.

'I didn't think you got hungry.' He thought absently, his hollow had never mentioned it before. He felt his hollow shrug and mirrored his stance in his inner world, staring out over the sidewards skyscrapers.

_**'spose it's because I'm bunking with you, King. I still have the urge though, it's always there.'**_ Ichigo couldn't help but notice that being in Hueco Mundo had made his hollow more talkative; since he didn't consider being insulted constantly really talking.

'Do you have any ideas as to where these guys could be?' His hollow had been hoping that he would ask this. He liked Hueco Mundo, and he wanted some action. Now that the King seemed to be relaxing around him, now would be the perfect time to try to get some.

'_**Tsh, like I would help you...but if I was a coward, there is only one place that could hide me in this sandy wonderland'**_. As if on cue there was a hollow roar and Ichigo looked down.

Of course, where would one go if they wanted to hide in an open desert? Beneath the desert. The Menos Forests.

Realizing this he turned around and walked to the group of Lieutenants with a serious look on his face. They all looked up at him as he approached, and Renji joked.

"Finally decided to stop being a loner, huh strawberry?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow but didn't rise to the bait this time.

"Renji, I know where the killers could be." All of the Lieutenants looked up on shock as he paused before elaborating.

"The Menos Forests."

Beta'd by OpenSourceArtist

This is the start of the next arc as you might have seen ^.^ I will say now that it will be more...violent than previous. Torture will happen and it will not be pretty, but that's just how it goes :P

Thanks for your reviews, look forward to reading what you think.

(Extra thanks for OpenSourceArtist for putting up with my grammar mistakes!)


	13. Taken

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

The Menos Forest was not exactly hard to find. With a strong attack, the ground of the sand crumbled to reveal the twisted maze of quartz that lay beneath. Once inside it was far too easy to get lost, and hollows scurried around in the darkness like rats.

Because of the threat that the hollows posed, even to their strong group, all of the squad members were suppressing their power as much as they could. Unfortunately, Ichigo had never really been able to do this.

"I've told you already, I don't know how to!" He shouted as they stood around the entrance they had created.

Renji sighed and pulled something out of his robes. "Well Mr. I-have-too-much-reiatsu, you are just going to have to wear this." He threw a black band over to him and Ichigo looked at it curiously.

"What's this 'spose to do?" Renji pointed to the other side.

As Ichigo flipped it over, he saw hundreds of tiny mouths and pulled away slightly. "It's just like Kenpachi's eye patch, but made in case your weird reiatsu needs to be hidden." He scowled at the insult but put the wristband on and immediately felt the effect. It was as if he was wearing a very heavy coat, not enough to impede his movement, but enough for him to notice.

"Well, it's working. Let's get going, pineapples first." Renji scowled back at him but before he could retort Ichigo hopped into the hole. The rest quickly followed him into the darkness, landing silently behind him.

"So you're a pineapple and a strawberry now, I think I-" He was silence by Ichigo holding up his hand and glaring at him seriously. Everyone turned to look at him as he spoke in a subdued voice.

"No noise, we don't want to wake the neighbors. I don't want a repeat of last time, move quickly and quietly." The change in his demeanor was surprising, but Renji understood why. He remembered that last time they had lost Rukia in the forests, they had been lucky in having help retrieving her. He probably still remembered it and felt guilty for it somehow. Renji sighed but did as he asked, motioning the 5th Squad members to fall in behind them.

It was going to be a long search.

* * *

><p>A dark chuckle echoed through the cave, and the owner stood. His servant remained bowed as he walked up to him. He didn't get a chance to speak as his head rolled with an expression of subservient fear still on it.<p>

The hollow chuckled to himself and flicked his clawed hand at the wall, blood spattering up it. The body dissolved as he walked away, black particles gravitating to his dense presence.

"You have returned, Ichigo Kurosaki. You will not leave again." His voice was soft as he strode out of the cave into the deathly still desert. As he stood in the light of the crescent moon, his white, humanoid body seemed to glow with a pale light. The jagged blue streaks seemed darker and clawed hands twitched slightly.

Looking down he smiled and knelt, putting a hand on the soft sand. The sand started to sink and he stood tall as he descended into the pits of the Menos forest. Once he had arrived he let out a strange cry, and watched as hollow came shambling out of the darkness, smaller ones scuttling about with the Gillian standing all around like a shadow.

"It is time, go, and overpower them. Do not kill the Captain." He knew that there was little chance in this random assortment of hollows that they could actually kill the squad that had come, so unwisely, in search of a non-existent remnant.

"Go." His single word carried a command and even the lowest form of hollows obeyed, all scrambling to get to find the Shinigami. '_Hidden reiatsu or not, you cannot hide forever_' the Vasto Lorde mused, now alone in the darkness.

He suppressed his own reiatsu and walked idly towards where he had first felt the Shinigami reiatsu, they would not be far from there and the other hollows would guide him.

All he had to do was wait for the opportune moment.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly Rukia had finished the paperwork of both her and Ichigo early today. '<em>Must be his presence that distracts me'<em> She thought, then remembered that he wasn't around to insult. Rukia pouted slightly, poking fun at her strawberry was one of her favorite past times, and he was so easy to-

'_Wait, MY strawberry?'_ She shook her head and sighed, wondering how the mission was going. She needed something to distract her from the boredom that took over now that she had nothing to do. If Ichigo did anything in the Soul Society, it was make things more interesting.

Standing aimlessly outside the barracks, Rukia noticed a familiar figure approach her. "Hey there Rukiaaaa." shouted out a singsong voice.

"Afternoon, Rangiku." The cheerful Lieutenant bounced over to her and smiled down at her.

"What'cha up to?" Rukia smiled back.

"Nothing, I just finished work early, I even did Ichigo's." She couldn't help but sound slightly proud and Matsumoto smiled again.

The Lieutenant rolled her eyes upwards in thought and lifted a finger to her mouth. "Huh, wow that's a lot. I just escaped -I mean left- as well! Want to come for a drink?"

Rukia paled slightly at the suggestion. "Uh, I don't think so." The busty Lieutenant pouted in response.

"Boo, that sucks." She continued to pout for a moment longer and then her face lit up and she pulled Rukia along behind her. "I just remembered, a few of us girls are going for food now, and you have to come!"

It didn't seem like she had much choice in the matter so Rukia allowed herself to be dragged behind until they reached the restaurant. She didn't really mind; aside from monthly meetings with the SWA (_Shinigami Women's Association_), she hadn't spent much time with many of her other friends in the Soul-society.

When they entered, Rukia saw the table and walked up to it with Matsumoto. She looked happily at the gathered women: Momo, Nanao, and Unohana were all at one table talking idly amongst themselves when they arrived.

"Ah, Rukia, glad you could come." The old Captain said, smiling softly as usual, and gesturing to a seat opposite her.

She smiled and sat. " Nice to see you all, it's good to have some free time." There was a murmur of agreement and Rangiku swung an arm over her, leaning against her.

"I know what you mean! I swear I never get out of the office." Momo giggled slightly and pointed out something.

"That's because you always fall asleep and no-one wakes you up, unless Shiro comes looking for you." There was collective laughter at the table from everyone but Nanao who smiled at first but then looked at her disapprovingly.

"We are supposed to make things easier for our Captains, not harder." Matsumoto withdrew her arm from Rukia and stretched both of them above her head.

"I can't help it if I get tired, besides, Toshiro gets it all done."

"So you admit you never do anything?" Nanao asked, pushing her glasses up slightly.

"Nu-uh, I never said that. I do paperwork." There was silence as everyone wondered how much paperwork Rangiku had to do before she considered her job done. No one estimated it was more than a one-digit figure.

"Well, Captain Hitsugaya has never had any stress related symptoms so it can't be too bad." Unohana said, breaking the silence.

They talked more before a waiter came and they ordered their food. After a short wait, it came and everyone had noodles of some description, it was after all a noodle house. As they started eating, Rangiku turned to Unohana.

"Say, do you know where Isane is? She normally comes with you if you eat out after work." Unohana looked slightly surprised but responded.

"Oh, didn't you know? Isane went on the mission to Hueco Mundo, you were at the meeting." Matsumoto looked back blankly before shrugging and looking around questioningly.

"I never really pay attention unless it's important. Who else went?" This time Rukia responded.

"Lieutenants: Kotetsu, Abarai and Kira, along with a group of squad five members who are being lead by Captain Kurosaki." She recited the whole thing formally before turning back to her food. However, Rangiku's eyes widened and she smirked as she looked down at her.

"So that's why you looked a little lost when you finished, not just Renji but your Ichigo have been taken away." Rukia choked slightly on her food and all attention turned to her.

"I-I don't know what you mean." She got out after swallowing her food.

"Oh, I think you do. What was that white thing you had the other day?"

Rukia smiled slightly and responded happily. "A limited Chappy that Ichigo bought..." She trailed of at the looks that she was getting and rolled her eyes.

"It was nothing like that, he just said it was because I couldn't afford it before." She said quietly, Momo looked like she was in heaven and leaned towards her excitedly.

"That's so cute, I didn't know he was that nice." Rukia wondered vaguely if Ichigo would be angry for ruining his 'image' as he had called it when he was younger.

Matsumoto interrupted her thoughts. "I don't remember him being so nice to anyone, soooo that means you're special to him somehow!" She said with a not so subtle wink.

Unohana looked kindly at her and voiced her opinion. "Rukia, I'm sure you will come to your own decisions on any feelings you may have, but as an older woman let me tell you something. To find someone you can truly bond with is a precious gift." She finished enigmatically and Rukia nodded, storing the words in her memory, after all, the Captain had lived far longer than anyone else present.

Rangiku lightened the mood by taking a sip of sake and smirking at Rukia. "At least he looks cute, except for that scowl, and he's got a nice body!" Rukia blushed slightly at the thought; she had seen his body a few times out of battle. She wouldn't say she was disappointed either.

Surprisingly Unohana agreed. "He does have a nice body, though it is to be expected considering his training." Everyone turned to her in surprise and the woman smiled wryly.

"I have healed him enough times, and done his physical as with all Captains." Rukia just nodded, still in shock slightly at Unohana's openness about having looked at Ichigo in _that_ way. Rangiku didn't seem phased and turned to Momo.

"What about you Momo, a certain white-haired Captain in mind?" It was her turn to blush and she looked down and started fighting.

"N-no, Shiro is just a good friend." Rangiku pouted but said nothing more on the matter, irritating Rukia who had been pestered for most of her meal. She ate and talked with them for a while longer, almost forgetting about the absence of her two friends.

* * *

><p>"These forests are damn quiet. I don't like it" Renji grumbled, he was annoyed at how long they had to stay stealthy.<p>

"Knowing our luck you will live to eat those words Renji." Ichigo countered, smirking back at the Lieutenant.

Isane spoke up, looking timidly at Ichigo. "Captain Kurosaki, what did you find here before?"

Ichigo smiled at her before responding. "Call me Ichigo, and last time we stopped by here there were a shit load of hollows. Lots of weak ones and lots of Gillian." She paled slightly and looked around.

"Lots of Gillian class Menos?" Ichigo just nodded but noticed her nervous state and chuckled.

"Don't worry about it, last time we got separated and we weren't as organized. I'm sure none of you will have problems with the big guys." She looked down before responding.

"Well, because I am in the 4th Squad I rarely fight, the time I actually got to fight was with you on Sokyoku Hill." Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then chuckled slightly at the memory.

"Oh yes, I'm sure you are stronger now and I doubt you expected that from some _ryoka_." Kira looked between the two, not having been present for the execution.

"What happened on Sokyoku Hill? I thought you fought with Captain Kuchiki there." Ichigo smirked back.

"I did, but before that a few Lieutenants decided to try their luck." Isane flushed slightly at the memory but looked up at Kira.

"Myself along with Lieutenants Sasakibe and Omaeda were told to chase down Lieutenant Abarai and Rukia." Kira looked at her expectantly and she finished obviously embarrassed. "Captain Kurosaki defeated us after we had released our Zanpakuto with three hits, without using his Zanpakuto."

Kira realized why she was so embarrassed at the memory and Renji just chuckled slightly. Isane looked down and jumped slightly when Ichigo clapped his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be embarrassed Lieutenant, you got off better than Byakuya and besides, I would rather have an excellent healer than another average Lieutenant." He smirked when he looked at the other two Lieutenants. "Not that I have one here, instead I have one with Bankai and another with a nasty Shikai...Yamamoto must be kind."

Isane smiled back at him and he turned back to lead them. He walked ahead slightly and Renji dropped into step with the other two Lieutenants.

"How's it going over at 3rd Squad Izuru?" The blonde-haired Lieutenant smiled tiredly.

"It's hard work, but I haven't had any real problems yet." Isane turned to him and Renji questioningly.

"Do either of you know if there is anyone lined up for Captain of 3rd Squad?"

Izuru just shrugged. "Not that I know of." Renji looked at him curiously.

"How about you, are you near Bankai?" Izuru chuckled lightly.

"Me? Not really, Wabisuke has not been very cooperative. I doubt I am ready for his power." He shrugged and looked at Renji. "You are viable for a Captain's spot aren't you?"

"Well, I've got my Bankai, so I suppose so." Izuru grinned and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be there as always to support you, and at least a few of the Captains will as well." Renji grinned back. He knew that Izuru would always be there, ever since the academy he had been friends with the man and knew that such friendship would not be broken any time soon.

Izuru leaned closer and questioned Renji softly, looking at the back of their leader. "How is he? He seemed a little...off, before."

Renji followed his gaze and shrugged. "Strawberry? Don't worry about him, if he's got shit on his mind then he won't tell you."

Isane interjected. "Actually, Lieutenant Kuchiki has said before that he just needs some uhh..._violent persuasion_, apparently anyway."

Renji snorted and chuckled with a hint of sadness. "Well, that's Rukia, she knows how to get through to the moron." Isane smiled sadly at him and Izuru sighed.

"You're not over her are you?" Renji scowled.

"It doesn't matter...I'm not the guy she needs, or at least not in that way." Izuru sighed and looked sadly at his friend. He knew that Renji had loved Rukia for a long time, probably since before he met him at the academy...but truthfully, he was glad he had realized this. There was no way she would ever see Renji like that, it just wouldn't happen.

"I'm sure if Lieutenant Kuchiki knew she would be happy that you could move on, Lieutenant Abarai, and glad that you wouldn't get between her and Ichigo." Renji chuckled louder, and Ichigo shot them a look before he turned his attention back to leading them through the large pillars.

"Thanks Isane, but I don't think those two idiots have noticed what's in front of them." The other two smiled at this and turned when they heard a voice from in front again.

"Your not talking about me, are you, pineapple?"

"You hear 'idiot' and assume it's you, eh Strawberry?" There was some grumbling from in front and the three Lieutenants laughed together.

The light-hearted mood was shattered when they heard Ichigo running back from ahead, shouting. "Hollows; a lot of them. And they say I'm the one with bad reiatsu sensing."

He emerged from ahead and hopped between the Lieutenants, shaking the bindings of Zangetsu as they released their blades. He turned to his squad members and growled slightly as they drew their blades.

"Izuru, Isane. You get to the other side of the others and take the hollows that come from there, me and Renji will stay on this side." They nodded and flash-stepped to the other side, making sure the fifth squad members wouldn't get too many hollows.

"You reckon these are our guys." Renji asked, looking over as they both stood, ready to attack.

"No idea, but we suppressed our reiatsu after we got here, I'm guessing whoever is down here sensed us before we entered." Renji nodded and Ichigo ripped of the wrist strap, stuffing it inside his Shihakusho.

The first hollows started streaming through the forest, white masks shining out of the darkness. Renji stood his ground, extending his blade and slicing the mask of a bug-like hollow. Ichigo jumped forward, raising Zangetsu above his head as the hollow jumped towards him. He sliced cleanly through the mask, turning the blade as it disintegrated, moving onto the next.

Renji and Ichigo moved through the weak hollows, their actions being mirrored all around as the rest of the group fought against the mounting number of hollows. Ichigo looked around, making sure that no one was in danger.

As he turned to look into the darkness, it seemed to ripple for a moment. Looking up he saw a familiar looking white mask towering above him, and another just next to it. As he held out his arm, a familiar voice sounded.

"_**You know King, I am rather hungry and there are a lot of hollows here, not the best souls but still...tasty."**_ He growled and brushed it aside, but could still hear the nagging voice in his head. The need to eat, to consume souls.

'_I beat you down long ago, I'm stronger than this, than you.'_ He heard a cackle as he growled and raised his spiritual pressure. To his left he heard Renji shout out the same thing.

"Bankai!" There was an explosion of black and red reiatsu, and the two stood looking at the huge shapes.

Moving quickly, they both jumped and raised their changed Zanpakuto. "Getsuga Tenshō!" "Hikotsu Taiho!" A red beam appeared, with a black wave slicing beside it. The two attacks collided with the masks and ripped them apart, the bodies falling down.

More appeared and were cut down, blades flashing in the darkness. Ichigo's eyes widened as a giant red orb formed in the mouth of one of the Gillian and he raised his sword to defend himself. "Dammit, I forgot they could use Cero."

The red beam launched towards him, meeting with the thin black blade and splitting off into the blackness of the forest. A second Cero from another direction appeared and he swung his blade at it, knocking it away from his team. As they gathered around, his eyes widened as he noticed that they seemed to be surrounding Renji.

Growling he tried to move towards him, but found that the large red beams were pinning him down too. His strength was fluctuating, as he had to defend the constant bombardment of the Menos. He looked over to the rest of his team again, and found that they didn't seem to be fairing any better.

Growling at his weakness, he swung his blade at the Gillian, taking out three of the huge figures. As he turned to strike again, his eyes widened in shock as he saw a group of five red balls glowing and being directed towards the red-headed Lieutenant, without thinking about himself he charged towards him as fast as he could.

He appeared in front of him and ripped him to the side. As Renji was pushed out of the way by the oncoming blast, he looked in Ichigo's eyes in shock. The Captain couldn't help but smirk at the look of surprise on Renji's face as he looked between him and the blast. He pushed the Lieutenant farther away, out of the blast and raised Zangetsu, confident of blocking the huge blast now approaching.

A loud crack suddenly echoed around the surprisingly quiet battlefield and Ichigo eyes widened as he felt something on his wrist for an instant. He was sure it was a hand but looked down, not in pain but surprise.

His forearm was bent at an odd angle, the black cloth had been torn away, and he stared in shock at his arm. He could see what he assumed to be a bone protruding from his arm, and a deep gash sliced across it just above it near the elbow. He finally realized what had happened and screamed out in pain as his right arm fell, useless, to his side.

Renji watched, helpless as Ichigo turned to the huge blast, Zangetsu slipping out of his fingers and falling to the ground. The moment was painfully slow as he watched the blast intended for him tear towards the defenseless Captain. The red light reflected briefly in his eyes before the huge blast contacted with him.

Time returned to normal speed as Ichigo roared in pain and the blast tore into him. Renji watched in horror as the blast sped away, watching as it broke the surface, taking the young Captain with it as it broke out of the Menos forest.

No one noticed an agile figure jumping up the crystal trees towards the hole, yellow eyes gleaming, and a cruel smirk under its white mask.

Renji felt helpless and was about to pursue the blast when Izuru's voice rang out. "Renji, we need to go, get Kurosaki out of his fight and return here, I'm opening a senkaimon!"

Renji stopped and shook as he realized that no one else had seen the fight, having been pre-occupied with his or her own fights. He looked towards the hole, but could only watch as it sealed overhead, cutting him off from the man who had protected him. '_Why didn't I go after him straight away'_He berated, but couldn't dwell on it now as he dropped to the ground, forced to retreat because of the number of hollows.

He took a step in the dark and his eyes widened as he saw what was lodged before him. Zangetsu sat, in its shikai state, having been dropped from its master's hand. That meant that Ichigo was without his blade, and in Hueco Mundo alone in his current state. '_He won't survive if we leave him here.'_

Squeezing his hands in anger he grabbed the hilt, almost flinching at the discomfort he felt at handling another's Zanpakuto. Gritting his teeth he ran towards the bright light of the opening senkaimon, going as fast as he could when he noticed that it was only Izuru who was left defending the portal.

Reaching the portal with both swords (Zabimaru sheathed and Zangetsu in his hand.), he grabbed Izuru and pulled him through the white doorway. The tunnel between worlds almost snapped shut after they had left, and within seconds they were thrown unceremoniously out of the emergency senkaimon.

They landed in a heap, in the courtyard where they had left of, all members accounted for...except one. Isane raised her head from her healing and ran over to them, her eyes shining with worry as she looked them over.

"What happened, are you okay?" Izuru nodded but Renji didn't, keeping his eyes closed as he clenched his fists, turning his head to the side.

"Renji what-wait, where's Captain Kurosaki?" Everyone fell silent as the question reverberated around the courtyard. All eyes turned to Renji who looked up eventually, only to look back down at the Zanpakuto in his hand.

After a moments silence he replied in a soft tone.

"Ichigo didn't make it...he's still in Hueco Mundo." There was silence as the implications soon sunk in. The young Captain was in Hueco Mundo with no backup, no way of defending himself and no way of returning. Everyone thought the same thing.

_'He's as good as dead'_

* * *

><p>Beta'd by OpenSourceArtist.<p>

(A/N) Sorry this took longer than usual to get out :/ I'll try and get it back to my usual speeds but I don't know with my work D:

Anyhow, reviews :P

(P.s Next chapters not for the squeamish :3)


	14. Aftermath

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Sand blew across the hollow deserts, running along the dunes. The light of the crescent moon illuminated a face in the sand, half-covered already by the fast moving grains. Shallow breaths tore out of him unevenly, eyes tight shut in pain. A shadow blocked out the pale light, growing over the figure.

The Vasto Lorde grinned wildly to himself at the sight of the broken hero. He brutally kicked the body to the side, sand flying of as he landed in the soft sand. The figure sonido'd over and grabbed Ichigo's uninjured arm, lifting the man in the tattered haori to eye level.

"I'm Telior Sielber, pleasure to meet you _Captain_" He cackled at the unconscious body before he sonido's away, letting Ichigo crash into the ground every time he emerged from it.

* * *

><p>There was silence in the courtyard as everyone took in Renji's news. This was the last thing that they had expected to happen in the mission, that the war hero would fall. No one moved until four figures appeared, three wearing a Captain's haori.<p>

"We didn't expect you back to soon, How'd it go?" Shunsui asked casually, his Lieutenant him as always. Ukitake and Byakuya stood to either side of him, scanning the crowd.

Renji hesitated but stepped forward to the Captains. "It was a trap sir, Captain Kurosaki suggested that we suppress out reiatsu and search the Menos forests for as long as we could without attracting to much trouble. We searched for a while until hollows appeared out of nowhere-"

Ukitake interrupted, his eyes widening in worry. "Where is Captain Kurosaki?"

Renji clenched his fists but kept eye contact with Shunsui as he finished his brief report. "We fought them as many Gillian class Menos approached. During that fight a collection of them fired a large, merged cero towards me. Captain Kurosaki noticed and pulled me to one side. Something else damaged his arm and he dropped his Zanpakuto, he was hit with the full force of the cero and did not return with us."

There was silence as the Captains and Nanao took the news in. Shunsui pulled down the brim of his hat and sighed to himself, Byakuya stood as calm as ever however, Ukitake was far more expressive.

"What! Did you see it happen?" He questioned, worry clear on his face.

"I saw he blast hit him and he was propelled out of the Forests onto the dunes, then we used an emergency senkaimon to escape." Ukitake looked to Shunsui, who's face was hidden under his hat.

"He may still be alive then, he could survive there, we must-" He stopped as Renji held up Zangetsu for the Captains to see.

Shunsui reached out and took the blade, feeling the same uncomfortable feeling that Renji had. "He may be able to survive" He said quietly. "But not without his Zanpakuto."

As if on cue, a crack appeared in the blade, starting at the hilt and running up the blade before stopping. Renji widened his eyes and looked at the Captains, it was Nanao who answered his unasked question.

"The sword will remain whilst its owner is still alive, but as his strength weakens, so will the blade." Renji took a step towards them, eyes widening.

"So he is alive then! We've got to send a search party." Shunsui and Ukitake looked at one another, and Byakuya answered him.

"You will do nothing Lieutenant, I will inform the Captain-Commander and he will decide how to deal with the situation, I suggest you write a detailed report to present at the next meeting." Leaving no room for argument, the Kuchiki noble flash-stepped away.

Renji looked helplessly at the remaining Captains. "We've got to follow protocol, this is a tricky situation." Shunsui said, grimacing. "I don't know what old Yama will do, after all Ichigo has helped us out a lot in the past."

Before he could continue Renji sensed a familiar reiatsu approaching and his eyes widened in horror. Before he could react the Captains turned as Rukia appeared before them, bowing down.

"Hello, Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake. What are you doing here?" She hadn't mean to sound so rude, but something felt wrong. They had returned for the mission earlier than expected.

Ukitake grimaced and Shunsui looked at her, with a serious face. "We came to check how the mission went." Rukia nodded and looked behind them at Renji.

"Renji, how'd it go." Before Renji could respond, Ukitake stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder hesitantly.

"Rukia...Captain Kurosaki went M.I.A during the mission." He used the terminology to distance himself from the statement.

Rukia stood in shock, eyes widening as she looked between the figures in front of her, desperately hoping that this was some-ones idea of a bad joke. "W-what?"

Shunsui averted his eyes, but returned them to her worry stricken face after a moment. He knew that nothing he could say would change this. He was old, he had felt the pain of loss before and for now he could do nothing to help.

Rukia's mind running in overdrive. It was only a few days ago when she had last seen Ichigo; when he had surprised her and bought the plush that was sitting in their office at the moment. Now he was gone. '_No, he's not dead, he only said he was M.I.A. I am a Kuchiki, I will not fall apart because one man is missing. He will be fine.'_

She took a deep breath and looked up at Ukitake with a small smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Ichigo would only be irritated if I worried about him." Ukitake looked away from her and she furrowed her brows questioningly.

"What-" She stopped when Shunsui held out an all to familiar sword.

"Captain Kurosaki will be alive as long as this blade remains." Rukia's eyes widened and she looked at the blade. She could already see one crack from the hilt, and remembered that Ichigo was in Hueco Mundo at the moment.

"So, Ichigo is alone...without his Zanpakuto?" She questioned, looking between both of the Captains. "Surely we should send out a search party?" Inside she was frantic, before he would have been able to fight his way out of needed, now...he was more alone than any shinigami without his Zanpakuto, helpless.

"We will do all we can Rukia but we have to wait for the Captain-Commanders decision." Ukitake said, looking at her sadly.

"But, I-...Of course, Captain." Rukia slid into her Kuchiki mask, looking blankly back at the two of them. It was like she had literally shut down, her emotions becoming to overwhelming to handle. She turned to talk away, but was stopped by Renji moving forward and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Rukia, wait-" She hesitated and turned her head slightly.

"What is it, Renji?" Her voice was cold and Renji winced inwardly. Pushing that aside for now he reached out and took Zangetsu from Shunsui's hand.

"Take this, you should have it." Rukia froze for a moment, looking at the cracked blade. Her inner pain broke free for a moment but was quickly restrained. Reaching out she took the blade that was taller than her in both hands and left without responding.

Shunsui sighed when she left and looked back at his old friend with a sad expression. Renji too looked at Ukitake since he had been Rukia's Captain for a long time. Ukitake watched Rukia walk away sadly and said softly.

"It's just like before." Renji furrowed his brow in confusion and the Captain elaborated. "When Kaien died Rukia changed, throwing herself into her duties as a shinigami but not having any passion for it really. Kurosaki changed that, making her happy and helping her move on from the ghosts of her past, as she did with him. Now..." he trailed of, but Renji understood him.

"If Rukia thinks he's dead, she will go back to that?"

"I don't think so, because she doesn't blame herself. Despite that, Ichigo is the closest person to her, and vice-versa. Rukia never had many people she truly cares about in her life, so their deaths affect her greatly." Ukitake continued to frown and looked at Shunsui, who tipped his head slightly before the two started to walk away.

"Nanao, please take care of my duties, we need to see old Yama about this." Then they were gone, leaving the two Lieutenants together.

Nanao turned to Renji and said sternly. "I know that you are Rukia's closest friend Abari, so do this for me. Don't let her lose hope, make sure she knows that as long as the blade remains there is hope for Kurosaki." Renji nodded and was then left alone in the courtyard, the rest of the team having left shortly after the Captains had arrived.

"Don't die, you selfish strawberry." Renji said to the air, smirking slightly to himself. Walking down the path he wondered how he was going to deal with Rukia like this. He hadn't been around when she had known Kaien, and this was different anyway.

'_Don't get all mopy on me Rukia'_He said to himself as he found her reiatsu and hopped onto a rooftop, moving swiftly in her direction.

* * *

><p>Ichigo winced as he opened his eyes, his entire body aching. He looked up groggily, wondering what was going on, only to look down as he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. It has been broken and the bone was still sticking out of the flesh, he also noted that it looked very pale. Looking up slightly he saw a large cut in his arm that was still dripping slightly, with sand lodged in it.<p>

Gritting his teeth he tried to move, wincing as he failed. Opening his eyes a bit wider he looked about, trying to see where he was. He seemed to be in some sort of cave, with a sliver of silver light peeking through a crack. Looking down he saw many binds on him and could only assume that they restricted his power as well as he couldn't summon anything up.

Growing more desperate, he called out to his Zanpakuto. 'Zangetsu?"

The response was echoed and sounded like it was coming from through a wall. '_I'm here Ichigo, but I cannot help you'_Ichigo widened his eyes and looked around for his blade, finding nothing but cold rock.

'What, where are you!' Zangetsu didn't respond, instead a scathing and familiar voice took his place.

'_**Oh, I'm afraid the old man is sitting in the soul-society at the moment, King. So it's just you and me.'**_He could hear the cruel satisfaction in his voice and scowled.

'Get lost you bastard.' He got a cackle in response.

'_**I'm not going anywhere you fucker. The King has lost his sword, how long can he keep the crown.'**_Ichigo tried to ignore him as another insane laugh ripped through his head, but he knew that it was true. Without Zangetsu he would lose control of the delicate balance that held his inner world together.

"I've got to get out of this damn place." He said to himself, only to hear a chuckle coming from the darkness. Snapping his head up he shouted out. "Who's there, let me see you coward!"

Another chuckle bounced around the room and Ichigo saw a figure walking out of the shadows. A few steps later he stood in front of the captured Captain and looked at him, smirking.

"Evening, shinigami." Ichigo took in his appearance and growled.

"Who the fuck are you, hollow." There was a flash of irritation in his masked face but it quickly vanished. The hollow raised his hand and poked one finger onto Ichigo's chest.

"I introduced myself but you were...indisposed." Ichigo glared at him and the yellow eyes seemed to glow brighter with excitement."So I'll make sure you don't forget it, and learn your place."

Ichigo frowned but widened his eyes and looked down when he felt a pain in his chest. "I am..."As he spoke he pushed one finger like a dagger through his chest, digging it into his right ribcage and smiling as Ichigo coughed up blood. " Telior Sielber, Vasto Lorde." As he finished he thrust his finger up to his knuckled into him and watched as blood seeped from the wound.

"B-bastard." Ichigo choked out, his mind reeling from the pain. Telior just chuckled darkly and cocked his head to one side, examining the boy he had captured.

"You know this was easier than I thought, the soul-society practically handed you to me an a silver platter, and you even came to the forest on your own." Ichigo's eyes widened in realisation as he felt out with what little reiatsu he had left.

"I-it was you!" The Vasto Lorde nodded and continued to inspect him.

"I killed the scouts to get you here, and then conscripted the Menos to serve me, they wouldn't dare defy me after all. I even made sure they aimed at your red-headed friend, knowing you would protect him." Ichigo snarled at him but Telior just looked amused. "I just needed to separate you from your Zanpakuto, and you are so fragile."

Ichigo remembered the sudden pain in his arm when it had broken and his hatred for the other man-no hollow, continued to grow. "What the hell do you want?"

"Me? I want you." Ichigo started and winced in pain at the pain it caused in his chest, new blood flowing copiously from his chest wound.

"What?" The hollow looked at him for a moment before it walked of into a dark corner of the room, his voice calling out from the darkness.

"Well, I know what achievements you have to your name, Ichigo Kurosaki. At first I thought about just eating you..." Ichigo shuddered at the thought, but he wasn't prepared for the next statement. "...but then I decided that it would be much more entertaining to play with you."

Telior emerged from the darkness carrying something in his hands. He walked closer to Ichigo and looked at him once again before he moved almost to quickly for Ichigo to see. A second later Ichigo felt pain rip through him and roared out. It was to much, he almost lost consciousness there and then, but somehow held it and looked down, his head throbbing.

Across his chest there was a large, deep, jagged gash that spanned from his shoulder to his abdomen diagonally. Looking up in a daze of pain, Ichigo saw his tormentor looking at the wound. In his hand there was a shard of the same quartz from the Menos forests, dripping with blood from its grisly task.

"I have heard about your _resolve_, and now I will see for myself _Captain Kurosaki_..." His voice was mocking as he said his name, and Ichigo felt the white hot pain once again streak across his chest. "...just what it will take to break you."

"W-what the fuck-" He was silenced by a fist colliding with his jaw, knocking it harshly to the side.

"A Vasto Lorde such as myself gets bored, and an opportunity such as this is...rare indeed." Ichigo snarled back, only earning himself another punch, this time to the gut. Suddenly Telior was right up against him, the mask almost touching his bloodied face.

"Don't you get it, you will die here and no-one will save you. Your _friends_will never find you and I will make sure you beg for death before the end." He hissed, narrowing his eyes dangerously. Ichigo coughed out some blood and glared back at him, his breathing ragged and his wounds stinging painfully.

"F-fuck you...piece of shit hollow."Telior growled and swiftly stabbed his shard into the Captains shoulder, leaving it there as he glared at his captive.

His glare turned to an evil smile (though Ichigo could not see beneath the mask) and he chuckled to himself. "It seems you are as stubborn as they say, very good. A toy is no fun if it breaks easily." Ichigo scowled and panted heavily, wincing at the rock still embedded in his shoulder.

"B-bastard." The Vasto Lorde let out a bark of laughter.

"Bastard? Trust me, this Is just the start, you'll call me worse before you snap, it's just a matter of time." Ichigo just glared at him and the Vasto Lorde drew closer again, cocking his head to the side slightly. "Or maybe I'm not pushing the right buttons, then again it has only been an hour or so since I got you here."

It had felt longer to Ichigo, then again he had been unconscious until recently. Telior watched him suffering in silence for a moment before he grabbed the shard of rock embedded in his shoulder and gave It a sharp twist before removing it.

Ichigo gasped out in pain and the hollow turned around, chucking the rock back into the darkness it had come from. As he was leaving he shouted back to the Captain. "Tata for now, I've other things to occupy me than your soon-to-be corpse. See you tomorrow."

There were footsteps as he walked away, then silence as Ichigo was left alone in the dark. He vaguely wondered if he would get out of this situation alive, after all he had never been stranded so far from Zangetsu before. Even if he could call the blade to him, it couldn't transverse a dimension and it seemed his power was still restrained.

He was left with his hollow for company, saying dully to the dark. "Well...fuck." His hollow chuckled, leering at the wounds.

"_**Got that right King, your well and truly fucked...I wonder if this body will still be up to me after you break.**_"

Not needing to restrain himself Ichigo growled out into the dark. "If I die, you die too."

His hollow just cackled at him. "**_We'll see King. Don't get to beat up now...though it's not like you can stop him_."**

* * *

><p>Rukia closed the door to the squad five office behind her, walking into the room alone. Quietly she walked over to their desk, smiling softly to herself. She had worked yesterday, glad to find that there was actually little paperwork for once. It was strange doing it without being able to annoy Ichigo, the day seemed to drag on for longer without a distraction.<p>

Picking up her new chappy plushie she held it in her hands and looked down at it. '_Ichigo is gone.'_The thought suddenly hit her and she held the toy tighter, squeezing her eyes shut in pain. Feeling her eyes start to get wet she quickly wiped them and looked at one of his few possessions, propped up against the desk.

'_He wouldn't want me to be sad, and he'll be back before I know it.'_She thought, looking at the huge black blade. Her eyes lingered on it and she gave another small smile, despite the confusion and pain she felt.

" 'Sup, Rukia." Her head spun towards the door and she saw Renji leaning against it, with an air of indifference about him.

"Renji...how are you?" He caught the second meaning and shrugged at her, moving over to the desk and sitting on it.

"Can't complain, how about you?" Rukia didn't respond, she just turned to look back at the blade, Renji followed her sadly. Sighing he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about the Strawberry Rukia, after all it was me who wasn't fast enough-" He was stopped as Rukia pushed him off the desk. Renji groaned as he crashed onto the floor, glaring at Rukia as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Dammit what the hell, I was apolo-"

Rukia cut him of sharply. "God, don't go all Ichigo on me." Renji cocked an eyebrow and Rukia rolled her eyes. "That boy has a conscious far to delicate, he always manages to feel guilty if something bad happens. Your not like that and don't start, I have enough trouble dealing with him. Ichigo knew the risks and would never feel sorry if that's how he..." her breath caught in her throat and she stopped. Unable to finish.

Renji gave her a comforting smile and motioned to the blade. "Well we won't be rid of the carrot-top any-time soon, all he has to do is hold out until they send a search party." Rukia smiled back at him and they both glanced towards the blade.

As if on cue a new crack tore deeper into the blade, causing the two of them to catch their breath in their throats. Rukia turned away, not wanting to see the new addition to the blade. She felt a pain in her heart, and wondered what it was.

'_What's happening to you, Ichigo_'?

* * *

><p>(AN) Okayy, this was another long time between updates, however I have an excuse :P I'm about three chapters ahead of this atm, but my Beta reader has fallen ill D: I hope they get well soon, but until they are feeling up to it, I will be updating without a beta reader...soo the grammar will probs get worse etc.

Should still be readable though xD Thanks for putting up with the wait!


	15. Hueco Mundo hospitality

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Rukia looked sadly at the empty chair. She hadn't grown used to it yet and was still surprised to find it empty every morning, with no sign of a certain orange haired Captain. Pushing the depressing thoughts away, she sat down and looked at the first of the paperwork.

'_That's right, it's been a week.'_She thought sadly. It was true, it had been one week since the soul-society had sent out a search party to find the lost Captain. A little over a week since he had gone missing in the first place.

She could only hope that the search party was having luck in finding him.

~_Flashback~_

_The Captains and Lieutenants were assembled in the meeting hall, listening as Renji made his report on the failed mission. After he had finished Soi-fon was the first to speak up, glaring at Renji._

_"Did you say that it was because of your inept skills that a Captain is missing?' Renji was angry but guilty, so bit back the retort. He had no right to argue back to the Captain anyway._

_"Yes, Captain Soi-fon."_

_She turned to Yamamoto. "Captain-Commander this failure is not acceptable for a Lieutenant!" The old man said nothing, and watched as Shunsui stepped forward to defend the Lieutenant._

_"Now now, surely you know Soi-fon that it is a Captains duty to protect his troops if they end up in a pickle." The squad two Captain hardened her gaze on the extravagant squad eight Captain._

_"The Captain should give his men orders and they should be followed. He should not have to worry about his troops skill level since he will have chosen the best man or woman for the job." Shunsui tipped his hat and smiled lazily at her as usual._

_"Maybe so, but I don't think Lieutenant Abari can be blamed and could not have foreseen this. From the sounds of it, this was planned." The room was silent for a moment before Unohana spoke up softly._

_"I agree Captain Kyoraku. Captain Kurosaki was targeted and we were outmanoeuvred without knowing it." Ukitake furrowed his brow._

_"Who or what could be powerful enough to control the Menos and catch Captain Kurosaki off guard?"_

_Mayuri looked excited at this new development. "This is intriguing, perhaps one of the remaining Arrancar?" Everyone could tell that the scientist was looking forward to experimenting on something new, but he was not the only one excited._

_Kenpachi joined in. "Who cares what it it, if it took down Ichigo and still has him then I want to fight it!" The noise was rising now and Yamamoto brought down his staff to silence the Captains, before looking down at Renji._

_"Lieutenant Abari. You were near his when it happened, do you have anything to add?" Renji kept his head bowed and thought back to the event._

_"Well, as I said in my report; I felt a huge spiritual pressure just before the Captain dropped his Zanpakuto. It looked like his arm had been broken and a deep cut seemed to be in his upper arm. I am sure that this is not an Arrancar though, the energy was purely hollow." Yamamoto frowned at the news._

_"In that case it could be a Vasto Lorde, could it not?" Toshiro interjected, looking up at the Captain-Commander._

_Rukia widened her eyes, speaking without thinking. "Are they that powerful?" As soon as she had spoken she realised where she was and bowed deeply. "My apologies for speaking out of turn."_

_Shunsui smiled back at her. "Well, you are going to be taking over your Captains duties whilst he is missing so don't worry. But yes, Vasto Lorde are the final form of hollow and we suspect that the first three Espada were Vasto Lorde, but those were only the ones that Aizen managed to recruit. The older they are and the more hollows they have eaten the stronger they become, we are lucky there are only a dozen or so."_

Yamamoto spoke up once more. "It is likely that Captain Kurosaki is being hunted by this Vasto Lorde as we speak. If it devours the soul of a Captain its power will grow greatly, so I am dispatching an immediate search party."

_No one questioned the order and Yamamoto picked out the members and dismissed them. The chosen members told to be ready to leave as soon as possible._

~End Flashback~

Rukia looked up as the door to the office opened, revealing a grave face. "Captain Ukitake, how have you been?"

Ukitake gave her a small smile before responding. "Morning Rukia, I'm well thank you. How have you been holding up?"

"I'm fine sir. Did you have a purpose for this visit, I have a lot of work to do." Ukitake frowned slightly and sighed.

"I don't have a mission for you if that's what you are asking, you seem busy enough as it is. I'm here on a more personal issue." Rukia looked at him curiously, wondering what he was talking about.

"Go ahead Captain Ukitake."

Ukitake moved over to the window and looked out into the early sun. "Before I ask this of you, this is only a suggestion, you don't need to do this. Now, do you know Kurosaki's family?"

Rukia widened her eyes slightly as she remembered the short time she had spent in his house. "Yes, I spent some time in his..." _'Cupboard'_"...uhh, his residence." She wasn't about to reveal that she, a noble of the Kuchiki family, had spent a few months living in the closet of a human boy.

"Well then it is more appropriate that I ask this of you. I wonder if you would consider a trip to the human world?"

"The human world? But why sir?" Rukia questioned.

"Kurosaki's family will not be aware of his current situation, I suggest that you tell them." Rukia looked away for a moment, not exactly thrilled at the idea of informing them that their brother and son was missing in Hueco Mundo.

Looking up she steeled her expression. "Very well, I will do as you ask. What about my work today?"

Ukitake smiled warmly. "I'm sure I can spare a third seat, I have two as you well know. Now maybe you should get going."

As he finished speaking, a cheery voice came out from behind him. "Thank you so much for this opportunity to prove my loyalty, Captain!" Sentaro had his usual, fanatical, expression on and was standing just behind his Captain.

Rukia bowed to both of them as she left, heading for the Senkaimon.

* * *

><p>The Senkaimon opened, revealing a small black figure hopping through it. Rukia landed in the air above Karakura town, looking down on it nostalgically. It was easy to miss the small random moments that were so frequent in the little time she had in Ichigo's closet.<p>

Moments later a familiar reiatsu was moving rapidly towards her.

"Hello there, it's been a while Kuchiki." Ishida's voice rang out through the air, and she turned to see him.

"Yes Ishida, I have been kept quite busy with my new post." Uryu's eyes flashed to the Lieutenants insignia then back and he offered her a small smile.

"Congratulations, I assume you are working with Kurosaki?" That reminded her why she was her and she hesitated for a momnet before nodding. "Well does you being here mean he has already created enough chaos in the Soul-society for them to lock him up." The tone was mocking, but there was a question beneath it.

Rukia looked at him with an unreadable expression before she turned away. "Ichigo...I'm here to see his family on his behalf, since his is busy at the moment." She didn't like the half-lie, but it wasn't worth scaring more people over his absence.

Uryu gave her a sceptical look but said no more as he turned to leave. Just before he spoke up. "Keep him in check Kuchiki." That was the closest he got to caring Rukia mused, almost smirking.

After he left, Rukia flash stepped towards the Kurosaki home, quickly arriving outside it.

Just before she knocked on the door she almost smacked her head in annoyance. She had not retrieved her Gigai, so wouldn't be seen by the Kurosaki family. Just as she turned to leave, the door opened to reveal a very happy Isshin.

"Rukia! My beloved third daughter, you have returned, but were is that failure of a son. Don't tell me he let you come here all alone, oh Masaki our son is not a gentleman-"

"Mr. Kurosaki, you can see me?" He stopped at her interruption and looked at her for a moment in her shinigami attire and then grinned.

"But of course? Didn't my delinquent son ever tell you, I'm a shinigami." Rukia blinked in surprise and raised her eyebrows at the man.

"Really? Well that does explain Ichigo I suppose, but how-" She was cut off as he dragged her into the house, slamming the door shut behind them.

They weren't alone for long as a bored looking Karin walked into the room holding a packet of crisps. She blinked as she looked at Rukia, before continuing on her way and sitting down in front of the television. "'Sup shinigami."

Rukia smirked at the girls resemblance to Ichigo. Not in appearance but action. "Please, Rukia. How are you Karin?"

The tomboy shrugged and picked up the remote. "Same as ever, Our football team won the regional league." Rukia smiled back at her.

"That's great, I'll tell Ichigo when I see him next. Is Yuzu home by the way?" As she finished there was a sound in the hallway, followed by the door closing and a voice called out.

"I'm home!" The owner of the voice walked around into the living room, revealing a more mature looking Yuzu smiling as usual. She looked at Rukia for a moment then ran towards her, arms open.

"Rukia! I didn't know you were coming here." Before Rukia could react she was engulfed by the small girls hug. She didn't react for a moment but relaxed after that and returned it before stepping back and looking at the two girls.

"It was...unexpected but..."She looked between them once again '_They are both about to get taller than me.'_She pouted internally at the thought, not wanting to be there when Ichigo realised that fact. The jokes would be...endless.

Snapping out of her small sulk Rukia looked between the three family members. Yuzu too looked around for a moment before looking back at Rukia. "Where's Ichi-nii, Rukia. Couldn't he make it? We miss him."

Rukia grimaced at the not so comforting news that she was going to have to deliver to them. Gritting her teeth she breathed out and looked at the girls. "I'm sorry to be the one to say this, but since I am familiar with you I thought this would be appropriate."

Isshin's face was grim as he looked down at her. Yuzu seemed to be confused but worried and Karin had turned of the television but was not looking at Rukia. It was her voice that broke the silence. "Where is Ichi-nii, Rukia?"

"Last week Ichigo was sent to investigate something in the hollow realm; Hueco Mundo. During the mission he saved a friend and Lieutenant from an attack, however in doing so took the damage himself. We have yet to find him, all we know is that he is missing in Hueco Mundo, likely a prisoner of some sort, and although he is alive his power is getting weaker." Rukia stopped after and listened to the noiseless echo of her words.

It had not been much easier on her to say it again, to admit that Ichigo was in such a dire situation, and the only thing she had to know about him were the cracks on a blade that was back in the office he had left behind.

Isshin broke the silence, smiling softly at her. "Thank you for the news, Rukia. I trust that the Soul-society will find him in time." Rukia was surprised at how well he took the news. The twins reaction was much more like what she was expecting.

"Ichi-nii is...missing?" Yuzu whispered, her eyes filling with tears. Karin closed her eyes, looking back towards the blank television screen. She looked at it for a moment before getting up and leaving the room, the door creaking shut behind her.

Isshin looked after her and sighed, wrapping his arms around Yuzu and pulling her close to him. Rukia was surprised at how serious he was, considering his usual, foolish act. He looked up at Rukia after a moment and gave her his usual wide grin.

"You better get back, I'm sure my idiot son has left you with a lot of work in his absence. He can be so inconsiderate, make sure to punish him when he returns!" Rukia didn't respond for a moment, but then smiled and nodded, bowing her head to him slightly.

"I will Mr. Kurosaki, I'll make sure he visits when he returns." Isshin grinned and pulled up from Yuzu for a second to puller her into a swift hug.

"Call me dad my precious third-daughter!" Rukia smiled into the embrace for a split-second before she slipped out of it and left Isshin to tend to his crying daughter.

After she had walked out of the house she turned around at a noise behind her. Karin looked at her and spoke softly. "Make sure Ichi-nii is all right." Rukia nodded and after watching the girl for a moment, flash stepped away from the house.

* * *

><p>Ichigo forced one eye to open, both of them nearly sealed with blood, and he looked around the room he had been captive for...he didn't know how long. It looked the same as when it had before, except the large patches of red that had been splattered around it. He wondered how he was still alive, and attributed it to him being a soul which is more hardy than a normal body.<p>

Telior had not visited him just yet. True to his word, the sadistic Vasto Lorde had 'played' with him everyday for varying amounts of time. His wounds didn't have time to heal, so much as just clot up before new ones were opened up. His right arm was still broken, and in addition he carried his worst wound there. The skin had been flayed of nearly completely. Ichigo couldn't stand to look at his own arm, and was slowly losing the will to fight.

"Evening Captain, how are you today?" The mockingly cheerful voice caused his gut to burn with hatred. If he could just face him in a proper fight he could beat him. He glared out of his one open eye at Telior, who decided that Ichigo had taken to long to answer.

Gripping his flayed arm he squeezed and asked again, as Ichigo's eyes watered with pain. "I said, how are you?" He let go, and Ichigo breathed a ragged breath before replying.

"I'm...just fine." It was all he could manage, and the Vasto Lorde must have sensed his hopelessness.

"Good, because I have some news you might like." Ichigo glared at him as he continued. "When out on a hunt, I felt the reiatsu of a few of your shinigami friends, it seems they have sent a search party!" Ichigo opened his other eye in shock, his mind rushing to all the Vasto Lorde could do to them.

Telior noticed and chuckled darkly. "I had to go see for myself. I saw a tall guy with spiky hair and a scar, a midget with white hair, and a little girl with pink hair. There was a group of your stealth squad too, quite large." Ichigo hadn't expected them to send two Captains to try and find him, if they did at all. He wondered if this could be his lucky break.

"You might think that this is good for you..." Telior continued "...but I have not been entirely honest, you see I spotted them a week ago, and you. You are still here." Ichigo's hopes vanished as he realised what he meant. His reiatsu was hidden, despite it being suppressed at the moment, and he was suppressing his, meaning that he wouldn't be found.

"Go...go and fucking die." He breathed out, getting an amused cackle in response.

"My, my, that was your weakest one yet. I wonder if your will is finally slipping." Ichigo didn't dignify him with an answer, only growling at him.

"Hmm, well what about this. I will let you go, in exchange for another Captain. Deal?" Ichigo would have strangled him if he was able. He knew what answer he would get, and just wanted to play with his mind.

"I would rather die here, you despicable bastard." He mocked sadness and walked over to the dark section of the cave where he stored the many tools he had used to drag Ichigo into hell.

"Oh deary me, such a shame." Ichigo saw two fiery yellow eyes watching him in the darkness. "Actually, I'm lying, I've been hoping I could use this."

Emerging from the darkness, Ichigo stared in horror at the object he was carrying. Though object was not an appropriate term, it looked very much alive. It looked like a box, or a cage, with numerous white masked little hollows jumping or slithering around inside it. Seeing that Ichigo was staring at it, Telior lifted the cage and shook it at him.

"This, my Captain, is our next game. Each of this little hollows will be able to consume next to none of your immense reiatsu, and it will replenish faster than they can do damage to it. How ever, your reiatsu is currently being drained, which is why you aren't healing as fast as normal. So each of these will be able to nibble away at you, in the 24 hours they will be on you they will each only consume a small section of your, for lack of a better word, flesh. So they wont be eating you alive really, just nibbling on you are the time being." Ichigo looked terrified at this 'game' idea. He looked to each of the reiatsu bindings and struggled in vain against them, shouting at the Vasto Lorde almost grinning in-front of him.

After a moment of Telior indulging in his anger and fear, he punched him in the cheek harshly, snapping his head to one side. "Whilst I enjoyed your show, I won't be back until I decide that these hollows have nibbled on you enough. Have fun without me."

As he finished he opened the cage, setting it on the floor and walking of, leaving Ichigo almost screaming behind him, shouting out at him as his body was attacked by the small hollows.

* * *

><p>"<em>We can't leave him like this, you know what will happen if he dies<em>." Zangetsu's far off voice echoed through Ichigo's inner world.

_**"Whatever, I'm enjoying this show."**_ The white replica sneered, standing alone in rain.

"_And what if he dies? Will you still be laughing_?" Zangetsu retorted.

_**"King ain't gonna die just yet unless that other guys got something even worse up his sleeve, besides your the one that should be helping him, but you are safe and sound in the Soul-society until you shatter."**_ The hollow cackled after this, mocking Zangetsu's failure to protect Ichigo as he wanted.

Zangetsu just sighed at the creature_"If he dies, then you die. You may say you enjoy watching him in agony, but I know that you are still a part of him, and don't enjoy it as much as you say. At least not this kind of pain."_

The hollow snorted. _**"Bullshit, I'm happy to watch the King get tortured, he can feel how I feel when the bastard locks me up."**_

_"Say what you will, I don't need you to believe me."_ He scowled at the retort, but didn't respond, doing a good job at replicating his original in the process.

The hollow felt Ichigo's reiatsu weaken and flexed his own reduced power, feeling the restraints of the bindings. He spoke out loud, his scowl changing into his normal dark grin.

**_"Three weeks King, then the crown will be mine."  
><em>**

* * *

><p>(AN) Another chapter done :)

This was asked in a review so I thought I should address it for all: the issue of power levels.

Ichigo is at a pre-precipice world training state, so he is no overly powerful as of yet. His hollow and Zangetsu where split since they only merged in the precipice world.

Telior is above a Captain's level, probably around that of Shunsui; he is an old Vasto Lorde, who can conceivably surpass shinigami in power simply by absorbing more hollows. He is also quite smart.

The actually Ichiruki scenes may be sparce for a few chapters, after all they are rather far apart. Sorry about that, but bonds become stronger when they have to travel further, so yeah :P

Hope you liked the chapter, I know it's not the most exciting, but it is what it is :D Thanks to all my reviewers, and I look forward to reading more.

P.S I forgot to say THANKS, when the reviews ticked passed one hundred, I am very, very gratefully, and hope you continue to enjoy the story!


	16. Change of owner

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Familiar footsteps raised Ichigo from his blood-loss induced slumber to raise his unfocused eyes towards his tormentor. The days had blurred into one long cycle of pain, the only thing he was able to get from Telior was that he was avoiding critical injuries. Apparently he wanted his fun to continue for as long as possible.

The demons voice echoed in his ears. "Aren't you excited, Captain." Ichigo didn't respond, just waiting for the inevitable remark or pain that was coming. "It's been a whole month since you started entertaining me, and I must say it has been fun."

Moving over to him he ran a finger over one of the most recent gashes in his body. Ichigo knew the only reason he was still alive was because the Vasto Lorde had got into the habit of using his reiatsu to cauterise any large wounds.

"Aww, you are giving me the silent treatment, that's no fun." There was a tone of warning in his voice, but Ichigo didn't care. At this point nothing mattered aside from ending this pain, he was at his captors mercy, or lack of.

Narrowing his eyes, Telior slammed his hand into Ichigo's shoulder, popping the joint out of place with a sickening sound. Ichigo just winced in pain and continued to hang limply in the bindings. Taking a step back, Telior looked over the beaten Captain. His body was covered In gashes and burns, no skin really in-tact, just a mess of criss-crossing red. Here and there some bones where just visible.

Ichigo kept his unfocused gaze on the floor, noting absently that he hadn't heard from the two spirits who he shared his soul with for a while. Telior's arrogant voice made him raise his head slightly towards him.

"Well, well. It seems that this is it, the great hero is broken. I can't say I'm surprised, I mean..." Ichigo stopped paying attention as the hollow continued his monologue, he thought he heard something about the winter war but didn't really care what the hollow thought at this point. He brought his attention back to him as the Vasto Lorde finished.

"...live up to expectations. Oh well, I suppose that's my fun over." Without saying anything else, Telior took a step forward and almost lazily thrust his arm through Ichigo's chest.

Ichigo blinked in surprise, looking down to see his arm embedded up to the elbow in his chest. He looked at it in morbid curiosity, feeling the arm all they way through his body.

After this moment of silence, the hollow pulled the arm back out slowly, causing Ichigo to choke out some blood in pain. Blood practically exploded from his chest, some splattering on the white chest of the Vasto Lorde who was just watching him die.

Ichigo was darkly amused at how similar this was to his previous 'deaths' in Hueco Mundo. '_Maybe Ulquiorra got lessons from this guy?'_he thought as blood seeped out of mouth and wounds, pooling on the floor in a dark red puddle.

"I'll need your reiatsu now, Captain." He raised his hand swiped it across the bindings that held him in check. They feel to the floor but Ichigo could hardly fight back in his current condition. He just fell limply to the floor, his entire body screaming in pain.

His long bottle-up reiatsu exploded into the cave, blasting out into the perpetual night that shrouded the desert. After it had calmed down to his usual level, Telior smirked to himself, looking at the broken Captain.

Taking a step forward he lifted the body up by its neck, the head hanging forward limply. He would need to eat it before the soul completely faded, so he took just one more moment to bask in his success. "You will be tasty."

"_**Oh really?"**_Telior widened his eyes in shock at the hollow-like voice that was coming from the body. He squeezed his grip on his neck, but the heat still looked up, his battered face leering.

"What are you?" He questioned the face, with its golden, burning Iris and black sclera. The maniacal voice just laughed.

_**"You'll see. Say good-bye to the King!"**_As soon as he finished speaking black reiatsu exploded again from the previously almost lifeless body.

A white substance started seeping out from every cut and hole in the body, spreading over it as reiatsu raged like a fire. Telior dropped the body, taking a few steps back, away from the raging storm that was ripping through the cave.

"What's this? You still have some fight left in you." He heard a dark chuckle in response, and the black reiatsu disappated as a shock wave shook the cave. His eyes widened at the new figure that was getting to his feet .

_**"I can't believe that you let yourself get caught by this weakling, King."**_Telior eyed the new figure with apprehension. He was taller and bulkier, with a large hole in his chest bellow his collar bones. There were circlets of red fir on his wrists and ankles, which had grown more claw-like along with the white substance that covered his body.

He stood before the other Vasto Lorde, his new, demonic mask staring at him. _**"You won't be seeing the King again. He no longer has the throne."**_

Telior recovered from his surprise and stepped forward, looking over the new development. "Well, if the shinigami is gone, what are you?"

_**"Me? I have no name, why would I."**_Telior realised that this must be the source of the hollow power that Kurosaki was known for using. He had used it in the Menos forest as well, so what was it doing out now.

"Really, well that's a shame. Will you be as fun as the Captain?" Ichigo's hollow cackled and lowered his head slightly.

_**"I've waited a long time for this. Now the real question is whether a pansy like you will be fun for me."**_Telior's eyes flashed dangerously and he sonido'd towards the new hollow. Just as he was about to slam his hand into the hollows stomach, he felt him self stop and looked down in surprise.

A claw-like hand had caught his own and when he looked up, burning orange eyes where leering at him. Telior tried to pull away, but Ichigo's hollow was having none of it.

_**"Let's hear you scream."**_Before the Vasto Lorde could respond, the hand holding his wrist tightened and there was a loud crack, along with a sickening splat.

Telior looked down in surprise to see that his hand had been ripped of at the wrist, a jagged stump all that remained. Howling with rage, he jumped back and quickly regenerated the limp, growling at the laughing hollow.

The former shinigami looked down at the severed limp in his hand and threw it to one side of the cave. Mockingly, he brought his blood soaked hand up to his mouth and let a black tongue run along it through his jagged teeth.

_**"Mmm, I haven't tasted blood before. Not for lack of trying mind you."**_Before Telior could respond he was grabbed by the neck and launched through the ceiling of the cave, flying out into the night.

'_Dammit'_ Thought Telior. '_How can he be this powerful, he was almost dead last time I saw him. What is he?'_Even as he thought this the demonic figure appeared above him, laughing as he slashed his claws across Telior's back.

_**"Come on, fight back you piece of shit!"**_Telior growled and pulled his own clawed hand round, slashing out at the air as he fell back towards the sands below. Ichigo's hollow almost effortlessly caught it and grabbed his other arm as well.

Kicking off the reishi infused air and slamming the Vasto Lorde into the sand. Telior looked up into the murderous eyes from beneath the overpowering body. It was already clear that, whatever this was, it could and would destroy him.

"You should be thanking me, I released you." He tried almost desperately. He had been alive for over a thousand years, and was not about to let some ex-shinigami freak like him kill him. He had survived in this sandy wilderness, and he wouldn't let it end here.

However, the hollow just laughed at him madly. _**"Thanking you? Why would I thank anyone? You where just trying to do what I want to do, you just want to kill and bathe in blood! Besides that you gave me a month of shitty weather to deal with as well."**_

Before Telior could ask what he meant by the statement he saw a red light start to form between the horns of the mask. His eyes widened as he heard the insane laughter continue, the cero just continued to grow. It only stopped when the red orb seemed to be touching the tips of the horns.

"No, you scum won't kill me!" He shouted, starting to lose his composure as he felt the immensely dense reiatsu pushing down on him. He struggled to raised his hand and succeed in starting to charge his own cero, trying to aim it at the mask.

Ichigo's hollow just grabbed the small ball of red light in his hand and crushed it, making him look up in horror. The hollow just brought his face closer, the red light illuminating the older hollow beneath him.

_**"Well, it's time to become a bloody puddle."**_His laughter started up again as he released the energy that was contained in his cero.

Telior could only scream as he felt himself ripping apart. '_No, how is this happening. I broke him. I am one of the oldest hollow! What is he...how-'_His last thoughts where cut off as a huge dome was created as the cero exploded.

* * *

><p>Rukia looked up from her work when she felt a strange pulse of what felt like hollow reiatsu rush through the barracks. Other shinigami around her looked up as well, most flinched and some where knocked to the floor, not ready for such a high spiritual pressure.<p>

"What was that?" One of the members next to her asked another, breathing a bit heavier than before.

His friend answered, shaking his head. "I don't know, but it felt like a hollow." Rukia still felt the aftershock of the pulse and reached out to it, feeling the chaotic aura. She widened her eyes as she felt a sense of familiarity under the overwhelming hollow energy.

"Ichigo..." She breathed out, the member next to her turning to her in confusion.

"Lieutenant, what-" She didn't hear the rest as she rushed towards the source of the pressure; Zangetsu.

'_What the hell are you doing, Idiot.'_she thought, worried about what this change would mean about her Captain, her friend, her...Rukia couldn't finish the thought as she reached the door to the office.

This was the first sign that he was alive in a month aside from the presence of his blade. All the search parties had reported that he was nowhere to be found in Hueco Mundo, not even getting a trace of his spiritual pressure. Eventually they had pulled them back, since it would be a waste of resources '_apparently'_to continue to search for someone they could not find.

Needless to say, Rukia disagreed. Ichigo missing for a month she could deal with, Ichigo missing and in constant danger of death without a means of protecting himself was...hard. She found herself thinking about him more at work, hoping that he would return, so she could hit him for letting himself get caught.

All thoughts aside from worry and hope rushed out of her head as she pushed open the door and looked over to the blade that lay on the desk now. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw it.

The almost shattered blade seemed to be, literally, disintegrating. The very tip of the blade was dispersing into the air, black particles floating of into the reishi thick air of the soul-society. It was happening slowly, but it was still happening.

"No...Ichigo." Rukia whispered, almost hypnotised by the slowly disintegrating blade. She could only watch helpless as the tip continued to fall apart. As Ichigo continued to die.

'_I couldn't even be there.'_She thought. Ichigo would die alone and without comfort in the sands of Hueco Mundo. The thought was enough to break down the barriers that she had been trying to keep in place since Ichigo had gone. No before that. She had erected her barriers after Kaien had died, keeping herself at a distance.

Ichigo just went and broke them down without trying, like he did everything else.

Shaking, Rukia dropped to her knees before the desk, her mind replaying the same thoughts over and over again.

'_Ichigo is dying, Ichigo is dying, Ichigo is dying...'_She couldn't do anything. She couldn't save him as he had so often done her, she couldn't even see him. All she knew was that he was dying.

She didn't notice another spiritual pressure coming into the room, and didn't respond to the voice. "Rukia...what the hell is- what's the matter?"

Renji looked at Rukia's shaking form, her eyes wet with tears and faced down. He tried talking out to her again, bending down next to her.

"Rukia?" He called out softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Rukia what-" He was cut of as she buried her head into his Shihakusho, her small hands holding onto it fiercely.

From his chest he was able to make out a few strangled words. "Renji...Ichigo...he's dying alone..."She continued to cry into his uniform as he put the words together, holding her and trying to comfort her as best he could.

Looking up with wide eyes he saw the disappearing blade on the desk, the tip now gone and the black particles flowing out of the blade. He clenched his fist and looked away, remembering what Rukia had said. '_alone'_. He didn't deserve that, Ichigo didn't deserve to slowly die in a desert.

'_And it's my fault.'_He thought, squeezing his hand tighter as he remembered why Ichigo was alone. He was proven to be weak, again. Despite all his training he was still protected by Ichigo, how could he face Byakuya like this. Pathetic.

"Renji..." He looked down to see Rukia looking at him, her eyes red and shining with tears. Once upon a time he would have given anything for her to be holding her like this. But this just seemed...wrong. "I want him back, Renji. I...need him back..." She buried her head once again into the black fabric.

Renji was startled, he had only seen her so distraught once...when those kids from Rukongai had died. And even then...Renji could only hold her now.

"I'm sorry Rukia, it's may fault." Despite her earlier scolding he still felt responsible for it. This time he got no response as she continued to let out her sorrow. Emotions that she had kept bottled up for so long..

Another figure appeared, standing in the doorway and looking at the two, having felt both the pulse and Rukia's distressed reiatsu. "What's going on here, Abari?"

Renji looked at the older Kuchiki and silently prayed that he cared enough for Rukia to have tact here. Without responding her looked over to the desk and Byakuya followed his gaze, resting on the sword.

Pausing for a moment, Byakuya seemed to contemplate it before turning around. "I see, I shall inform the necessary people immediately. Take care of my sister." Renji didn't respond, glad as he was that Byakuya had not made things worse and had trusted him with Rukia for the moment.

After she had calmed down slightly she looked over to the sword again, now about an eighth of the blade missing. Renji saw her looking and frowned. "Rukia...do you want to go-" She cut him of with a fierce glare and stood, moving jerkily over to her chair.

"I will not let him be alone completely Renji, even if this is the best I can do." She spat at him, pulling her legs up to her chest in her chair at the desk. Renji nodded, not wanting to hurt her more than she was, and sat with her, watching the blade vanish.

* * *

><p>'<em>...And I'm back here again'<em>Ichigo mused absently as he fell through darkness. Apparently the Vasto Lorde had finally decided to end whatever game he had been playing with him. So he was once again falling through his own mind towards the inevitable.

'_Inevitable? Considering this is the third time I have 'died' I don't think that's true'_He thought with a grin. It was true that he had escaped death more times than that, but this was the third time he had the pleasure of being this close.

"Should I be insulted? Death doesn't want me." He mumbled wryly, feeling his mind start to fade as he fell deeper. Had his hollow died? If not then he should still be alive...but now his hollow has control. These thoughts flitted across his brain before he simply let go and continued to float in the black void between life and death.

'_Rukia.'_One random thought sent a barrage of images and memories through his mind: Violet eyes, angry fights, stray bang of hair, that cute pout...Ichigo opened his eyes, staring blankly out into the darkness.

"Rukia." He said out loud. If there was one thing that he would miss more than any other it was her, but it was worse than that. He would be causing her more pain, making her cry, because of him. His eyes widened as he thought about what she would do when she found out he was gone, she would be sad. He would prefer she just moved on...but he didn't.

He was -for lack of a better word- pining after her for nearly two years, and she could have come back if really needed. If he died...

"No..."He said to the darkness. '_I will not cause her any more pain, I will not be that man!'_gathering his mind he shouted out with more force. "No!" He wanted to get back, defeat his hollow...he wanted to see her!

'_I need to see her.'_He thought as he reached blindly into the darkness.

Suddenly he felt something against his fingers and grabbed onto it, holding onto it with all his strength. It was cold, his fingers where holding something that was freezing, but it didn't matter what it was. He felt it jerk his body towards something, something just as cold.

Ichigo saw a flash of white and his body went numb as he felt himself falling again. But this was different, this was new.

* * *

><p>Rukia wasn't alone as she watched the decay with teary eyes. Ukitake, Shunsui and Byakuya stood around the table as the blade faded from existence. Byakuya watched his sister sadly, his emotions just visible behind his impassive mask.<p>

He never wanted this for her. She had Renji in Rukongai, who did enough damage when he abandoned her, albeit unknowingly. Then she had him, her biggest failure, who should have cared for her like a brother rather than blame her for his wife's death. Eventually she found Kaien, who was the brother that he should have been, the one who supported her rather than hold her back. Even then she lost him in a terrible way, and he still didn't treat her like family.

Now she had a lot more people, she was more open and even had Renji back, along with numerous other shinigami who where her friends. And none of that would have happened it if was not for one orange haired punk who had woken her up and given her the spark of life back.

He didn't want to see her as a lifeless zombie again, he owed Hisana that much. He owed Rukia more. Hesitating slightly, he placed a hand on her small frame, surprised to find that she grabbed it almost instantly, squeezing it with her own.

"Nii-sama" She whispered, eyes fixed on Zangetsu. Byakuya gave the smallest of sad smiles and turned his attention to it himself. Even if he found the boy rude, arrogant and...well generally distasteful, this affected more than him. The boy had saved them when ever possible after all, and they had treated him as a tool much of the time.

Shunsui sighed sadly as he watched the countdown. He liked the boy. He had great potential even now and he would have been more than happy to teach the next generation as he had been taught by Yamamoto all those years ago. He looked over to Ukitake and knew the man had similar thoughts, and the 13th squad Captain liked him that much more for all he had done for Rukia.

As it stood, he was just another talented shinigami to fall before his time...way before his time. Eighteen years was nothing, but that was all he had.

The group watched as the degeneration finally reached the handle of the blade. There was a sudden increase in speed as the disintegration practically ripped through the handle, reaching the white cloth within seconds, and then then was gone too.

Everyone was silent as the black reishi was swallowed up by the air, and the last hope for the missing Captain disappeared before their eyes. No one moved, all eyes where fixed on the space where Zangetsu vanished, leaving them behind.

"ICHIGO!"

Rukia screamed out, breaking the silence and they turned to look at her shaking body. She had her hands clenched tightly around her knees and had buried her face in her own robes, trembling as she sobbed into them.

Byakuya felt his heart almost break as he watched his sister, but like everyone else, he was useless.

Ichigo Kurosaki was dead.

* * *

><p>Ichigo looked up blearily, feeling the cold whip against his face. Looking around he could only see white, a blizzard seemed to be blowing all about him, wherever he was. It was worse than he had ever seen (not that he had much experience), it was barely even snow.<p>

The flakes seemed more like ice, battering him and slicing him as he stood in a freezing whirlwind, completely at a loss of where he was. There was a rumble as the ground shook, and before he knew it he was being pushed by something. Flailing for anything solid he was almost crushed by a mountain of snow that had appeared out of nowhere.

'_Was that an avalanche?'_He thought wildly, not having a clue what was going on. He wondered how there could be one without a mountain of some sort, but then again with the white-out he wouldn't be able to see one even if it was five feet away from him.

Pushing himself up he tried to brush some of the snow off, wincing against the vicious blizzard. His usual black shihakusho was speckled with white and was getting whiter by the second. Ruffling his hair he tried to get a bit of the snow out of it before he took a step into the deep snow, determined to find out where the hell he was.

Suddenly he heard something against the gale of the storm, soft but clear somehow. Turning around he didn't see anything. Growling to himself he turned back, taking a step back when he was greeted with a pair of almost familiar deep blue eyes, and a white blade at his throat.

"I'll ask you again, who are you?"

* * *

><p>(AN) That's it, Ichigo is dead, no more story here!

Just kidding :P Hope you enjoyed it, sorry if Telior was defeated a bit quick, but he was better at planing rather than just being strong, and that's why brute strength will defeat him when he is unprepared :D

Oh yes and Rukia didn't react that strongly before because she was clinging to the idea of him being alive, refusing to despair before hand :P


	17. A day of snow

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Ichigo looked at the white figure in the blizzard with confusion. Now, not only was he in a strange, harsh land, but he had some random woman pointing a sword at his neck. He had hoped that things got better after you died, then again he didn't know where he was on that particular issue.

"Speak, stranger. Who are you, you should not be here." Ichigo gulped as he looked into the deep blue eyes, the rest of her figure blurry against the snow.

"Uh, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Who are you and where am I?" He hoped he didn't sound rude, but he was tired of being confused now. Thought this winter wasteland did beat the cave he had spent the last month.

The blue eyes widened and the sword dropped from his neck. "Ichigo...she always thinks of you...how are you here?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and responded, having to raise his voice above the gale. "Is there anywhere we can talk away from this storm?" The figure nodded and held out a slender hand.

Ichigo took it hesitantly and felt his body jerk violently. A second later he found that his surroundings had changed and that he was now in what looked like a hollow block of ice. The walls , ceiling and floor were frozen solid, and the only light was a dull blue glow that seemed to be filtering through the ice.

"We should be safe here, this is hardly what she would be using at a time like this." Ichigo turned around to see the owner of the soft, melodic voice.

Behind him stood a woman with a beautiful, softly curved face. Her pale lavender hair was hanging down past he shoulders, with a stray bang coming loose in the middle and rejoining her hair later. The hair was tied into a partial bun at the back, with a deep blue clip holding the hair next to her left eye, the left hanging down.

Her clothing was pale as well; light blue and green with a bow around the waist facing back holding it together. The slender white sword was gone now and Ichigo felt a nagging sense of familiarity as he thought about the white blade, wishing he had seen the hilt. Still looking at the woman, Ichigo decided that the only way to describe her was beautiful, in every sense of the word.

"So, you are Ichigo? I should have notice your hair, she always does." Ichigo widened his eyes on confusion, not sure who this woman was or who she was talking about.

"I'm sorry, but who the hell are you?" He asked, getting annoyed at being kept in the dark. The woman smiled softly and responded.

"I am Sode no Shirayuki." Ichigo was silent for a second before he put two and two together, then he took a step back in shock.

"Y-you? But that's Rukia's Zanpakuto!" He shouted, getting angry at whoever this woman was for messing with him.

She just smiled and raised her hands, pulling a white blade out of thin air. Ichigo reached for his own...only to remember that Zangetsu was missing.

"You mean this Zanpakuto?" Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw that it was indeed Rukia's Zanpakuto in her hands, the cloth hanging elegantly on the end of the blade.

Angry now he took a step forward, ignoring the fact that she had a sword and he didn't. "How did you get that! Who the hell are you!"

"I told you before, Ichigo Kurosaki. I am Rukia's Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki." Ichigo just huffed and looked away. "And I know you, because Rukia has never gone a day without thinking about you since she met you."

Ichigo turned back to her at this, her soft smile still on her face. "R-really?" He asked, still a little uncertain about the woman.

"Yes, thank you for helping her, Ichigo." Ichigo scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, having someone Zanpakuto thank you was not an everyday occurrence. '_I'm sure Zangetsu would do the same though'_He thought, remembering how he hated the rain.

"No problem I suppose, she didn't really need me." Sode no Shirayuki smiled to herself this time, wondering if the boy would ever know just how wrong he was. She had no idea how he got here, but it was sure to have something to do with Rukia's inner world being in the worst state it had ever been in.

"Why are you here?" She asked, deciding to voice her curiosity.

Ichigo shrugged, looking around at the icy room again. "I don't know, where is here exactly?"

She didn't look away from him as she responded. "Here? This room is the centre of her logic, and whatever she is feeling is beyond this."

Ichigo just looked at her blankly, greatly confused as to who and what she was talking about. "Who is she? And what do you mean logic, just tell me where I am." He was trying not to get frustrated, but he had been all but killed very recently.

Sode no Shirayuki cocked her head at him, looking at him curiously. "You don't know where you are?"

"No I don't. Now be so kind as to tell me." Ichigo huffed, getting more irritated with the calm Zanpakuto.

She gestured her hand towards the wall. "This place, and the land of snow I found you in...this is Rukia's inner world. You are inside Rukia's soul." She said the whole thing in her usual, calm voice, but Ichigo was far from calm.

"What the hell! No! How can I be here?" He asked frantically.

"I don't know, but the fact remains that you are here now." She responded, not helping to calm Ichigo's mind. He scowled and looked to the side, contemplating what to do now he was stuck inside Rukia's inner world without explanation.

Sode no Shirayuki took the time to inspect the boy that her master had been so interested in for some time. She always seemed to feel so many emotions around him, she felt so alive when that boy was with her. Sode no Shirayuki smirked inwardly as she noticed that he had a scowl on his face as was apparently normal for him, and was acting as brash as he always did.

She felt a sense of familiarity about him, then she remembered back to when they had been connected. Rukia have given her powers to this boy to save his life, so she had also lent him Sode no Shirayuki herself. Her thoughts suddenly clicked together as she remembered his strange, half-formed inner world, with the blurry figure always in the distance.

"Rukia's going to kill me if she finds out about this." He said, not looking forward to the angry midget kicking his shins in for invading her most private space. Even if it was by accident.

The Zanpakuto gave a soft chuckle. "Rukia will forgive you as she always does, but I may know how you have come to be here, if you are interested?"

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Really? I'd love an explanation."

Sode no Shirayuki nodded. "Do you recall when Rukia gave you her powers?" Ichigo nodded in response. "Well your own shinigami powers were not active then, and the majority of your power was still sealed below. You still have impressive reiatsu, but it was not flowing through the correct valve you could say. You never even wielded Zangetsu when you fought." She recalled the name from Rukia's memories and looked at his surprised expression.

"Not Zangetsu...then what was the sword I used?"

She smiled widely at this and looked into his amber eyes. "The sword you used without knowing its name..." she paused and Ichigo scowled in frustration. "...was me."

"Y-you?" Ichigo choked in shock, not ready for that answer.

She just smiled at his surprise. "Yes, You ran your reiatsu through the only available opening, which was the one created by Rukia when she gave you her powers, losing her own as a shinigami. Whilst I am a part of her soul, I also resided in you for the brief time when you used me, even if I was not your Zanpakuto." Ichigo just blinked at this new information. He had always assumed that it had been an unreleased Zangetsu that he used, but that must have been after...oh.

'_I broke Rukia's Zanpakuto.'_He thought, wincing slightly at the thought of Byakuya breaking the blade. Looking back at the calm avatar of Rukia's soul he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Right...uh listen, sorry about getting you broken and all." To his surprise, Sode no Shirayuki let out a soft laugh at this, covering her mouth delicately.

"Don't worry about it, Ichigo." She seemed so similar to the midget who created her. "I was glad to return to my own masters soul once again, being in you was...strange."

Ichigo didn't know if he should be offended but before he could decide she continued. "Zanpakuto are made from their owners soul, and are part of it. So to cross into another is a rather intimate act, and only happened because of how much power you took from her in the first place." Despite what she was saying there was no hint of accusation in her voice, it was as calm as ever.

Ichigo felt heat rising in his cheeks as he thought of what she had said '_intimate',_ he was very much hoping that it was nothing like _that_. As if reading his thoughts she gave a soft almost-giggle...but she seemed too refined for that.

"Calm yourself, Ichigo. I only meant that for me to be inside your soul is to hear and feel your thoughts and desires, the things that are usually exclusive to the owner." Ichigo let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding, his mind still reeling with thoughts of Rukia and the word '_intimate'_.

Looking back at her after pushing the thoughts out of his mind he had the strange urge to say "I hope you liked your stay.", his lips pulling into a smirk before he could stop them. Once again she seemed to read his thoughts, continuing on without his response.

"If you were wondering, I wouldn't say your soul was an unpleasant place to be...well for the most part, it wasn't when it rained" She looked at him pointedly. "But that can't be helped, everyone has their own way of expressing sorrow and pain."

"Uh, yeah sorry." He said, fighting not to smirk again at the thought of the elegant woman looking like a drowned cat in his inner world. There was something so ironically funny about it that he had a hard time doing so.

Sode no Shirayuki nodded, ignoring the twitches of his lips. "To be honest, even though it was painful, there was something quite exciting about having that much reiatsu flowing through me at one time. It is so unlike Rukia's controlled and precise power, yours is chaotic and raw."

Ichigo didn't know how to react to that, so he just tried to ignore it, along with the faint red that was on his cheeks from the attention. "Right...so did you say you were going to explain why I am here."

She continued to look over him critically for a moment longer before she stopped and returned her gaze to his. "Yes of course. First I must ask if anything has...happened to you recently."

Ichigo chuckled to himself, '_does basically dying count as something?'_ She looked at him curiously and he responded almost sheepishly. "Well, I have been captive Hueco Mundo for a month, and, well last I knew I had a hole through my chest."

Sode no Shirayuki widened her eyes in horror as she looked at the surprisingly calm -considering what he had just said- boy. Gathering her composure she responded dryly.

"At least that explains the weather."

"The weather...oh the blizzard and avalanches." Ichigo recalled the treacherous conditions from before.

"Yes, like your own inner world the weather adjusts according to how Rukia feels." Ichigo's eyes widened as he realised the kind of state that she must be in at the moment for her own mind to be in such chaos.

"What! She's like this because of me..." He trailed off, guilt evident in his voice.

The Zanpakuto thought that it would be best to cut him off before he started spiralling down as Rukia had complained about so often. "You cannot help her in your current...condition. Even I cannot speak to her at the moment, she is to distressed."

Ichigo growled, feeling helpless _again_, and for causing her this level of pain. "...Fine, now explain."

She sighed, clearly the boy had lost his patience now, she shouldn't have told him in the first place. "From what you have said, about you being near death, I can only presume that your mind, your consciousness even has fled your spiritual body and grabbed onto the most familiar thing it can find."

"But why was I forced to leave it, that's never happened before, unless I was dying." She crossed her arms impatiently.

"You _were_dying, but your body has not been destroyed it seems, otherwise you would not be here, you would be dead." Ichigo scowled at the blunt statement, then he remembered what he had felt as he started to fall into darkness.

"...My hollow." She nodded in agreement.

"Yes, he has taken control, and somehow saved you." Ichigo shuddered as he remembered the fight on the roof of Las Noches. Or at least part of it, the rest, the part were he beat -or rather his hollow- Ulquiorra, was a blur of rage. Zangetsu had shown him that form before he merged with his hollow, and he knew that it had saved his life, but no-one who was not on the roof knew about it. Rukia had never asked about it, and he was nervous about how she would react If she knew the details, so her Zanpakuto obviously didn't either.

"Yeah, he does that." He caught her questioning glance and sighed. "If I die, he dies, and he has no intention of dying."

"Very well, now can you tell me if you had your Zanpakuto on you?"

"Zangetsu? Ah...no the bastard hollow broke my arm and I dropped him." Sode no Shirayuki seemed to think for a moment, murmuring something to herself.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her. "What's up?"

She shook her head gently, smiling softly. "Nothing, I that explains why you are here though. Your Zanpakuto keeps the balance between your shinigami and hollow powers, normally it would not matter if you were separated, but when it is by an entire dimension and I assume with some sort of reiatsu damper then you will have a problem. You may have eventually recalled Zangetsu without the restriction, but with it there was no way he could reach you." She stopped, Ichigo wondered if she was checking if he was still paying attention.

"Without your Zanpakuto, your shinigami powers have no effective outlet, so they go to waste and your more concentrated hollow powers took over. Essentially your soul felt something that it deemed more suitable to reside in, in its current state, and entered it...did you have any strong thought before you arrived?"

Ichigo blushed, looking away and running a hand through his hair. "Well...I thought about Rukia, and that I...didn't want to leave her." His blush grew as he trailed off, embarrassed to be saying this to Rukia's sword.

"Than that is part of the reason you made it here instead of returning to your own inner world when your hollow took control, plus there is no hollow power present here." She finished, smiling and gesturing around.

It was true, even Ichigo could feel that Rukia's inner world felt calmer than his...then again he remembered being outside in that storm and shuddered. Looking around he sighed and turned his attention back to the calm Zanpakuto.

"So what do I do now? Can I regain control of my body?"

She seemed to consider it before responding. "I would not advise it in your current state, you should rest here for at least a day or so to recover your reiatsu."

Ichigo growled but couldn't argue, he didn't feel strong enough to take on his hollow at the moment. Looking up he could almost feel the storm ever here in this secluded cage, it was constantly eating at him that it was his doing.

"Fine...but will I be able to speak to Rukia?" Sode no Shirayuki shook her head solemnly.

"I'm afraid not, as I said even I cannot contact her through her pain." Ichigo felt his heart clench painfully and nodded.

"Dammit...so I just sit around, in boredom until I can fight."

She smirked at him, responding in a tone similar to Rukia when she was mocking him. "Yes, I'm sorry if my company bores you."

Ichigo scowled, looking into her cold eyes. "I didn't mean that, I-ugh forget it." Sode no Shirayuki huffed and crossed her arms, still managing to look irritated but elegant.

"I can see how you irritate Rukia now, you manage to have a distinct lack of tact." Ichigo groaned in annoyance.

"Can you just be quiet for a moment, _bitch_" She gasped in affront and her eyed flashed dangerously, her arms unfolding and her fingers itching to teach the boy a lesson.

"I would watch your tongue, _boy_." Ichigo and the Zanpakuto glared at each other for a moment, before he dropped his eyes and sighed, his head hanging down.

"Look, I'm sorry, but there's some hollow out there with my body and Rukia is in some sort of trouble, I..." He trailed off, instead just shaking his head and seating himself on the ground, slumping on the Ice.

Sode no Shirayuki watched him in surprise, she hadn't expected him to give up so easily. She had heard that the boy was as stubborn as her partner, so seeing him so defeated seemed...wrong. Taking pity on the boy, she walked over to him, her long kimono trailing elegantly behind her.

When she reached him, she crouched down and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Ichigo. I have faith that you will return and save Rukia from her distress. Since you do not have your own Zanpakuto to tell you this, let me; don't let despair swallow you, stand above it and look forward." Ichigo looked surprised at her kind words and gave her a small grin.

"Yeah, Zangetsu likes to say stuff like that, even though the old man is quiet most of the time." She smiled back at him and stood back at her full height, taking a few steps away from the boy.

"As he should, he is your partner after all. I would like to elevate your boredom whilst you wait, but I wouldn't want to risk telling you something Rukia would not." Ichigo chuckled, she would be irritated enough when she found out that he had been inside her soul, no need to add fuel to her anger and risk physical injury from the midget.

"No problem, do you think you could put me to sleep or something?" He felt a bit stupid asking, but it was worth a shot. After all she did reside within this world.

Surprisingly she nodded. "Of course, I can put your mind to rest until you recover if that is what you wish."

"Really? Oh, good then, go ahead." Nodding she raised her hand and Ichigo felt himself get colder than he already was. He grew tired as the cold spread throughout his body, and as his eyes rolled back into his head he lolled onto the floor, the world darkening around him.

He heard Sode no Shirayuki speak to him before the world went black. "Rest well, Ichigo."

* * *

><p>Ichigo's hollow grinned to himself as he tore apart another weak hollow that had the misfortune of residing above the Menos Forests. He had no desire to go down there just yet, so soon after he had got his freedom.<p>

_**"I'm the King now!"**_He Screamed out into the endless dunes, his crazed laughter ringing out into the night.

He smiled down at the bloody corpse beneath him, reaching down and grabbing the small, dog like hollow and lifting up to his mask. The free hollow almost shuddered as he smelt the scent of fresh blood and ripped into his meal without hesitation.

He had said he was hungry before...well that wasn't strictly true, not in the same way normal hollows have that need anyway, he was just following his instincts. But now...now he felt the hunger at the back of his mind, and he relished in it.

_**"That's right, no fuckin' weak pansy to stop me now!"**_For a split second he wondered where the bastard was, but it was overwhelmed in an instant as he felt the raw flesh of the slain hollow being ripped apart by his teeth, the devoured souls only fuelling the blood lust he felt.

The hollow looked down at the blood soaked sand, his demonic mask and terrible eyes half-illuminated by the crescent moon. A random thought hit him as he looked at the stained sand and he grinned to himself.

_**"Now I'm in control, and the King has gone missing I suppose I deserve a little something..."**_ He squeezed the remains of his prey and watched with glee as it splintered and exploded in his hand. _**"...A name."**_

He had gone for long enough without having that, and now he was in control he deserved one. He didn't care about it particularly, but it seemed to be something that everyone else had. He rolled his eyes as he thought of having to come up with one. '_**I don't give a shit about stupid meanings...'**_

Throwing the mass of weak and useless flesh to one side his black and gold eyes caught as drop of blood rolling along his arm. Bending his arm he moved his head closer and licked up the path of warm blood, enjoying the taste as it danced on his lips. A memory interrupted him as his _ex-_King's name rang through his head.

'_**Tch, Ichigo Kurosaki...what a weakling.'**_ Looking back at his arm, his mind jolted as he thought of another way to get back at the shinigami -no the _human_, that had restrained him for so long. The boy that was so proud of his name, '_He who protects'_. The pale moonlight was highlighting his equally pale body as he grinned up at it.

_**"So...I guess I'm Shirosaki now."**_

* * *

><p>(AN) Cookies to those who guessed correctly :P Originally I was going to be much more vague, I was even considering just leaving you without telling you about him going anywhere briefly xD

A lot of this chapter is simply my own view on what happened, so sorry if you don't agree. I also had to reread parts of this to get it straight in my head, the distinction between minds and souls is a fine one when you consider that Ichigo's body when he is a shinigami is his soul, so when he is inner world he is a mental representation of himself...or something.

I hope it wasn't too confusing!

Thanks again to my faithful reviewers! You really are a big help in motivating me to write the story, especially when I am feeling particularly lazy . Which reminds me, I need to finish chapter 21, Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	18. Fight for the Soul

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

The recently dubbed Shirosaki watched with glee as a red cero exploded from his fingers, carving into the barren landscape as it raced towards its target. It collided with a huge explosion, a fiery dome billowing up and illuminating the skyline.

_**"Sucks you ain't here to see this, King. I know you'd love it!"**_As usual he didn't get a response, the words echoing around the mangled inner world that remained.

He was curious as to where the shinigami had hid himself, and why he did not seem to be within his inner world. Shirosaki remembered spending his time in that slanted city, so his new horse should be there too...right? If Ichigo was dead then he would be dead too, so where was he.

Shirosaki shrugged of the thought as he made a dash towards the smouldering corpse of the unfortunate hollow that he had chanced upon. Looking down, he noticed that it was still alive and cackled to himself.

_**"You're still alive? I haven't had someone to torture yet."**_Grabbing the Adjuchas he lifted the humanoid body buy the neck, the skin charred and smoking. Grinning madly he shook it slightly, trying to get a reaction.

His grin grew when he heard a groan of pain from the mid-level hollow. Shirosaki continued to shake the hollow until the masked, bird-like head finally opened its black eyes to look in fear at its attacker.

"Wha-new Vasto Lorde?..." Shirosaki smirked under the hollow mask, raising his unoccupied clawed hand in a mock wave.

_**"That's right, night night."**_Without hesitating Shirosaki plunged two fingers into the black eyes of the hollow, his laughter ringing with the hollows scream of pain. He pulled his claws out of the bloodied sockets, roughly running his black tongue over the various fluids that were left on his fingers.

His need for blood rose as the flavour exploded in his mouth, almost forcing him as he clamped down on the neck of the whimpering hollow. He twisted his own head and the hollow jerked with a sickening crack, the head hanging limply of the stump of a neck.

Shirosaki reveled as he felt the souls of the almost-damned and unfortunate pouring into him, their whispered screams merging with his own oppressive being. Not close to sated, he dropped the body, only to join it on the ground. He crouched over the bloody remains, using his claws to rip out mounds of flesh from his meal. Bones splintered and snapped as he ripped out the innards, blood quickly covering his, already smeared crimson, body.

Blood was splattered all around by the time he finished, a few mounds of hollow-flesh strewn about after the feeding frenzy. The body was nearly all bones now, a few scraps of flesh still hanging on pathetically.

Shirosaki stood, ready as ever to kill something now that he was free. He wasted no time in using sonido to speed across the planes, looking for a fight, looking for a kill.

Ichigo opened his eyes as he felt a cool breeze blow around his, already cold, body. For a moment, all he could see was blue, his eyes still blurred from his dreamless sleep. Looking up he saw a set of deep blue eyes quite close to him.

"Wha-Can I go now?" He was a bit surprised that she had still been there watching him, but he shrugged it off.

Sode no Shirayuki nodded in response. "Yes, you have restored your energy, although..." Ichigo watched as she hesitated and seemed to think about something.

"What?" He asked, wondering what she was thinking about.

Sighing, she looked back at him. "Well, you said that you were hold captive?" He nodded. "Well if your spiritual body has been damaged..." He cringed slightly, remembering the last time his consciousness had control of his soul.

'_I thought I would be done with this body jumping when I became a full shinigami.'_He had always been annoyed that he had to think about his human body when he battled hollows, and here he was again. Same circumstance with different bodies.

"...Then those injuries will, of course, still be there unless they have been healed somehow." Ichigo scowled but didn't argue the point. He was not looking forward to getting back his...body from the hollow. He hoped that the hollows instant healing had healed them up, after all, why would he want a damaged body?

"Okay, so how do I get out of here?" She smiled softly and materialised her sword between her hands, the white blade almost glowing.

"You have to be ejected. Then you will return to your body." Ichigo eyed the sword for a second before he caught on to her meaning and groaned.

"Argh, what is it with you two and stabbing me." Sode no Shirayuki held back a laugh as he pouted -_pouted-_at the idea of being stabbed by her again.

"It's not like I enjoy this, but it is the only way." Ichigo swore that he saw a smirk on her lips as she said that, but just sighed.

"Fine, fine. Let's get this over with, I've got a body, er soul, to get back." She nodded and walked over to him, standing close and raising her sword in both hands to point at his chest.

The Zanpakuto seemed to look him over once more, as if she wanted to consign him to her memory. Looking up into his soft amber eyes she gave him a small smile and plunged her white blade into his chest, in the same place Rukia had first stabbed her into the boy.

"Take care, Ichigo." She said softly, watching as his consciousness dissolved, starting at his feet and quickly tearing him apart.

"See ya." Ichigo responded, smirking as he completely disappeared.

He felt nothing for a moment, simply floating in the darkness once again, waiting.

Then it came, like he had been punched he was ripped through the darkness, some great force pulling him. Ichigo inwardly grinned, he would finally be able to get back into his own body, even if he had a house guest who didn't feel like leaving.

'_I'm not letting you have it, I will defeat you.'_He said to himself, his resolve burning like a fire in his mind as he hurtled towards his own inner world.

* * *

><p>Shirosaki blinked as he felt something inside him, inside his body, inside his...'<em>...my soul?'<em>A grin grew on his face as he realised who was back, and currently inside his inner world. The King had returned to claim his throne.

_**"I'm not giving this back, King. I 'spose I'll just have to beat ya till you understand"**_He knew that Ichigo had heard his words, and pulled his own mind back to join his ex-Kings in the tattered remains of his inner world.

He quickly materialised in the crumbling city, forming out of a dark pool of shadows on the ground. Ichigo turned as he felt the hollow near him, just in time to see the white figure emerge from one of the shattered windows.

His inner world was a wreck. The once tall skyscrapers had been decimated as if an explosion had gone of and the city had been left to rot. The reflective windows were gritty and many were shattered, leaving gaping holes in the once flat buildings. Inside there was only darkness, and Ichigo trod carefully to avoid falling into the impossible holes. Even the sky had changed, it now reflected the hollow, a crescent moon with a shroud of black covering the once blue sky.

His attention turned back to his white clone. _**"'Sup, King."**_

"Shut it, Hollow. I'm here to get my body back." He growled, taking a step towards him, the glass cracking underneath his foot.

Shirosaki cackled, putting his hands on his hips and bending towards Ichigo. _**"What's the rush? I've even picked out a name."**_

"I didn't think you wanted one." Ichigo sneered, his hollow already irritating him.

_**"Well everyone else had one, and now I have a body."**_Ichigo leapt forward, throwing a fist forward, which Shirosaki dodged smoothly and responded to by shoving his knees into Ichigo's stomach.

_**"I'm Shirosaki, nice to meet you."**_Ichigo pushed off his hollow, swinging his foot around to try and kick him in the head and shut him up.

"A bit unoriginal, don't you think?" He spat out, satisfied when he heard the hollow hit the ground after his kick.

_**"Nah, after all you're so proud of your name."**_Shirosaki snickered, taking the offensive and dashing forward, taking Ichigo by surprise as he grabbed his face in his white hand.

Ichigo didn't have time to react as he was slammed into a tattered building, clenching his mouth tight as he felt shards of broken glass penetrate his back. Shirosaki however, wasn't finished, and started to drag him along the side of the building, gaining speed as he went.

Ichigo was suddenly reminded of his fight whit Ulquiorra, but it was gone the next moment as he was launched through the air, landing painfully on the splintered glass of his sidewards city-scape. Shirosaki cackled and strode slowly towards him.

_**"Poor, ickle Ichigo is useless without his Zanpakuto, yet still tries to claim the crown?"**_Ichigo pushed himself up and glared at his advancing hollow, blood starting to seep from his small wounds all over his back.

"Useless? I'll show you, you bastard-" Before he could finish, Shirosaki was upon him, pulling him up by his hair to stare badly into his eyes.

_**"NO, King! No. I will have your power, and you can't stop me, hell you can barely walk."**_Ichigo slammed his fist into Shirosaki's stomach in response, forcing the hollow to drop him and shout out in anger.

Reaching out, his clone grabbed his wrist and pulled him up, attempting to throw him to the ground again. Ichigo spun in his grasp and planted his feet on his face, hearing a satisfying grunt as Shirosaki was knocked backwards, blood seeping out of his mouth.

_**"Not done yet, eh? At least my horse has spirit!"**_Ichigo roared in indignation, lunging towards the hollow. Shirosaki grinned wildly and responded by doing the same and lunging at him, intent on beating him into the ground.

Just as they got close to each other, Shirosaki's grin widened as he extended one hand towards the charging shinigami.

_**"Catch."**_Ichigo didn't have time to respond as a red ball suddenly formed at the hollows fingertips. His eyes widened and seemed to glow red in the bloody light that was emitted from the ball, his mind whirring for a way to escape.

The ball exploded into a large cero, blasting in between the already ruined buildings, exploding a good distance away in a giant red dome. Shirosaki laughed at the devastation, wondering how his ex-King had fared.

His question was answered when a partly smoking figure landed a punch in his face, knocking him back slightly. The hollow wiped the blood of his mouth and looked up with amusement in his eyes, eager to see his rival.

"Don't think I'll go down so easy...you bastard." Ichigo breathed out, looking more than a little worse for ware. His shihakusho had been burnt badly down his left side, and some of his skin was still smouldering there. Blood was running from a gash on his forehead and numerous cuts from the glass all around him.

_**"You're alive, well maybe I should stop playing."**_Before Ichigo could respond, the hollow was upon him, his form changing before him.

His usual white shihakusho melted away, displaying his muscular, but surprisingly lean, chest. Black markings wove over it, coming to a stop where the hollows hole was, almost proudly, displayed. More changes happened as he watched: Black circles of fur grew around his slender wrists and neck, his white hair almost exploded out of his head and cascaded down his back, ending near his waist.

But most startling of all was the hollow mask that grew on his face: it was black, with two white stripes running over the eyes. The teeth were bare like his old one, but upon his head grew two, forward facing horns, giving him an almost demonic appearance.

Ichigo knew this mask, he had seen it before and he knew its power. _**"What'cha think, King?Do you still want to fight."**_Even as he started to respond he felt a hand slam into him with crushing force.

_**"I know you do now, but let's see if I can convince you otherwise."**_Ichigo gritted his teeth in pain as Shirosaki ripped his hand across his face, nails digging into his flesh and carving lines of blood on him.

Without any hesitation he was grabbed by the neck and slammed into the ground, crying out as shards of glass and twisted metal stabbed into him him once more. All he could see was the mask and the haunting gold eyes.

_**"Is that it? **__**Is the King all done now?"**_Ichigo wanted nothing more than to respond by slamming his fist into his face and silence him. Even as he force his arm to rise he was stopped, a powerful hand slamming his back down before he could get it more than an inch of the ground.

"I- I won't give up!" Ichigo choked out, still fighting to move the hollow from his position of power. It was futile however, and the hollow just laughed at him.

_**"Oh? Then it's time for a change of King."**_The shinigami felt the white hand tighten on his neck, and panicked. Desperately Ichigo tried to use his left hand to fight against Shirosaki, but if felt like he was punching and pulling against a wall.

His vision started to darken and he gasped out, his lungs crying for air that wouldn't come. "No...Z-Zangetsu." Ichigo wheezed out, calling for his sword with his dying breath. He searched with his reiatsu, desperate to find anything that felt like Zangetsu, anything.

_**"Hah, the old man can't help you-"**_

"_Can't I?"_Both heads turned in shock at the new voice, Shirosaki's grip on his opponents neck growing slack as he saw a familiar form start to re materialise.

_**"You? I thought you were dead?"**_Shirosaki leered, pushing himself up from Ichigo's body and looking sceptically at the Zanpakuto's spirit.

_"As you well know, I am a part of Ichigo's soul, like you, and cannot die. I simply waited to feel my owners pull once again."_He looked at Ichigo, who was surprised by the amount of pain he could see in his eyes.

"_I am sorry, Ichigo. I could not protect you. I was taken to the Soul-society, I could not re-materialise as long as my physical form remained, so had to wait until your reiatsu was weak enough that I broke. After that I waited, as reishi, until I felt your mind call out to me again."_Ichigo pushed himself up, wincing slightly at his wounds.

"Don't worry about it, I dropped you in the first place." He turned to Shirosaki, who was looking as bored at the reunion.

_**"You two about done? I've got a throne to take."**_Ichigo growled in anger and raised his hand, holding it out before him.

"No...No more, this is MY body, and I won't let you have it. Zangetsu!" As he called out the blades name, the spirit melted into black, the spirit particles flowing to Ichigo's hand and reforming into a shifting blade of energy, the blade made purely out of black reishi.

"What the-" Ichigo started, but was cut off by Zangetsu.

_"I cannot take my true form yet Ichigo, the form you have only used once to achieve the final Getsuga. You have never been able to wield my full power because of your hollow. If you wish to unlock my true power, you must defeat him."_Ichigo nodded, remembering how his Bankai had changed briefly before he used the final Getsuga, the black blade was even reminiscent of Mugetsu.

_**"Hah! You can't even summon a blade, I'll show you how to wield Zangetsu!"**_Black reiatsu exploded around the hollow for a moment, before it dissipated, revealing him in an inverted Bankai costume. The long white sword swinging around on his finger by the chain on the handle.

Ichigo glared at him, his own reiatsu growing and pouring into him, black reiatsu raged on the temporal blade he held. Shirosaki suddenly raised a hand to his mask and ripped away part of the left side that covered his face.

_**"I want you to see your face as you fail, King."**_Ichigo snarled and flash-stepped towards him, bringing down his blade with a deafening crash as it met with Shirosaki's. Dust billowed outwards around them, Shirosaki's grin never leaving his lips.

The hollow swung back, pushing Ichigo away, then followed, swinging Zangetsu in his hand towards him. Ichigo stepped back as he landed to dodge the blow, returning with his own overhead attack.

Shirosaki parried it to one side, kicking Ichigo back with one foot. He didn't get far before he recovered, pushing back towards him and raising his strange blade.

"Getsuga..." Shirosaki let out a harsh bark of laughter and brought his own blade back.

_**"Getsuga..."**_Time seemed to slow as the two blades were swung in identical motions.

"...TENSHO!" _**"...TENSHO!"**_Two waves of black energy collided inches from their masters, the swords nearly touching each other.

_**"I told you before, that's MY attack."**_Shirosaki leered, pushing his strength into the attack.

Ichigo snarled and pushed back, his own attack growing. "Well, you better do better then." The attacks continued to grow, black energy crackling around them.

_**"I'm the KING."**_ Shirosaki almost screamed, his multi-layered voice resounding around Ichigo's inner world. Both pushed another surge of power into the attacks, and the attack exploded between them.

Debris flew everywhere as the mass of energy shook the crumbled city. As the smoke cleared, two figures became visible as silhouettes in the dust. One was standing, and the other was holding on to the edge of one of the windows, dangling towards the infinitely empty skyscraper.

"This is my body, Shirosaki. You will never have it." The hollow had lost. Ichigo had used the blade itself to push all his power into the attack, pushing the hollows back. He stood, weapon-less, over the helpless hollow.

_**"Bah, I've gotta' admit, you're power is impressive...but I won't stop trying to beat you. And one day, when you fall to your weakness again. I will be King."**_Ichigo sighed and crouched down next to the hollow, cocking his head to one side before exhaling again.

"Che, I don't know about you, but I am Kinda bored by this constant power struggle." Shirosaki cackled, despite his position.

_**"Bored? How could I ever be bored of this. I get to fight you, and if I lose I just have to get more powerful, if you lose, I get your body!"**_Ichigo scowled and considered his hollow, before doing something that surprised him. He extended his hand to him.

"I have something to protect, things I need to save. That's why you will never beat me. Now, if you want to be free...I can offer you a deal." Shirosaki narrowed his eyes, not trusting Ichigo in the slightest.

_**"What kind of deal would I be interested in? I just want to devour your body and power for myself!"**_Ichigo didn't remove his outstretched hand, looking coldly at the hollow.

"You act on instinct, you want to kill and to fight. If you fight against me I can't have Zangetsu's true form, and I need it to protect." Shirosaki just sneered at him, eyeing his hand with distaste.

_**"Well you might have to just sit by and watch your friends and your little bitch get killed and eaten, because I don't need you or Zangetsu!"**_Anger flew across Ichigo's face when Rukia was mentioned, but he managed to suppress it into a scowl.

"You haven't even heard the deal yet, hollow." He hissed.

_**"Tch, fine, I'm all ears."**_Shirosaki mocked, causing Ichigo to huff in annoyance.

"Listen up then: If you stop fighting Zangetsu and merge your power with him-" He held up a hand before Shirosaki could retort angrily. "- not your mind, just your power. Then I will...let you out sometimes in Hueco Mundo."

Shirosaki's ears actually perked up at that. _**"What was that? You may have a little of my attention, Kingy."**_

Ichigo growled at his insolence but continued. "If you do as I ask, I will give you free reign for a set period of time, every few months or longer. During this time you can be free in Hueco Mundo, I won't let you eat any souls, and you will have to use Zangetsu when you are done to purify them. I will be watching and ready to take over if you screw about too, but that's the deal."

Shirosaki frowned and contemplated the deal in his head. On one hand he would be heavily restricted in what he could do, and the King would be watching him just in case. On the other, this was much more than he had ever expected from the shinigami, and was a welcome relief to the tedium of his inner world.

He looked up at Ichigo with a scowl that could rival his. _**"How long would I have?"**_Ichigo smirked slightly before he responded.

"I don't know, we'll figure it out. Maybe a week or so every few months." Shirosaki considered this again. He was a creature of instinct, and right now it was telling him only one thing.

_**"You remember to let me out every once in a while and we might have a deal."**_He finally responded. Deep down, he knew that Ichigo had too much to protect, too much to lose. If this was the best he could get, then he would take it.

"Good, then you will accept being part of Zangetsu and stop fighting it?" Shirosaki grabbed his hand and Ichigo pulled the hollow up.

_**"Yeah, Yeah. I'll let our powers merge with the old man. I'll keep my mind though thank-you, I don't want to share with the pigeon."**_Ichigo let out a choked chuckle at Zangetsu's nickname. After all it wasn't like everyone stood on a beam of metal on sideways skyscrapers...like a bird.

"Do you know what will happen to Zangetsu now?" Shirosaki looked away, looking disinterested now the fighting was over.

_**"Well, as far as I know you will still be able to call upon my hollow powers, and I suppose I could teach you some more hollow powers when I feel like it."**_

Ichigo rolled his eyes at his hollow, but was interrupted before he could respond. "_Ichigo, you have managed to balance your inner world, and bring together your powers which have been split for so long."_

Zangetsu was standing a few feet away from them, once again in his older form. "What did you mean about your true form?" Ichigo questioned.

"_Your power and mine was split when your hollow was formed in the shattered shaft. Now I am whole once again, you can learn how to control my true power. You had a taste of this after our training in the precipice world, of course it was more powerful after your extensive training, but that was only raw power. Your Shikai and Bankai will both change to their true forms, both gaining power that they previously lacked."_Ichigo's eyes widened, his powers would change. But how much?

"How much will it change?" Zangetsu seemed to think about this for a moment before he looked back at him.

_"Summon me and find out, Ichigo."_The shinigami smirked at his words and held out his hand, digging deep into his soul to find his power.

"Then...Cast off your fear, Zangetsu!" Ichigo watched as Zangetsu dissipated yet again, flowing to his hand.

This time it was different though, a solid blade was forming, the handle lacked the familiar cloth and a small chain like his Bankai blade had replaced it. The handle itself was now round and leathered, with metal bands at either end of it. The blade itself had morphed to cross his original Shikai with an axehead-like appearance, both edges curved inwards towards the blade.

"Wha- this is your new form?" Zangetsu nodded as Ichigo looked over his new blade.

"_You can still use the Getsuga Tensho...and when the time comes I may have new abilities to teach you. Both your Shikai and Bankai will be much more powerful, meaning you will have to train to control this power or it will go to waste, as your power did before you truly mastered your previous Bankai."_Ichigo smiled to himself. He was looking forward to training and finding out any new abilities that Zangetsu had left to teach him.

Before he could speak Zangetsu continued. "_You also used my release command: Now my reiatsu has been properly synchronised, you will be able to seal me, you have never been able to before because of my reiatsu and your hollows conflicting power. Your power will still be as...wild and raw as before, however you will be able to seal me."_

Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise, he had not expected that, whilst getting more powerful. "Really? How do I do that?"

"_Simply withdraw your power from me, your training in Kido from Rukia will aid you...slow as your process is."_Ichigo scowled at this, and Shirosaki cackled at the insult.

_**"Hah, you suck King. Oh well, maybe I'll teach you cero when I'm in a good mood, your control won't matter then."**_

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the hollow. "Like your any better. Anyhow, you can teach me when we're not so...screwed." Ichigo remembered that his body was not going to be in a good state, considering his inner world.

_**"I would have healed ya body King, but I really didn't need to at the time, and can't really now."**_Ichigo rolled his eyes, glaring at his hollow.

"Why the hell didn't you heal it? I thought you were using it!" Shirosaki shrugged his shoulders, looking uninterested as he peeked into the darkness, where rooms where slowly being recreated.

_**"Eh, my hollow body spread over yours, so I didn't need to bother."**_Ichigo sighed, walking to the edge of the skyscraper and looking down.

"Fine, fine. I guess it's time to face the music, later guys."

_**"Later, King. Have fun in that mess of a body."**_Ichigo scowled at how cheerful he sounded.

_"Farewell, Ichigo."_

Ichigo turned his back on the two spirits, letting his mind return to his body for the first time in what felt like ages.

* * *

><p>Ichigo opened his eyes, his entire body aching. Bone-like hollow substance fell from his body, cracking and blowing in the wind. The wounds which criss-crossed his body were thick with blood, already bleeding slowly down his chest and arms. Zangetsu hung limply in his left hand, his right arm still slick with blood and barely skinned.<p>

Ichigo wobbled on his legs, falling down onto his knees and gasping out in pain, his leg-wounds crying out as he landed on the rough ground, his shihakusho all but disintegrated. Sand rubbed into his wounds, clogging them up.

With his last clear thoughts he tried to pull his reiatsu away from his blade, remembering what Rukia had...tried to teach him during his Kido lessons. He ebbed the flow of reiatsu to Zangetsu, and was rewarded when he looked down at the blade. It had sealed into a normal Zanpakuto, and Ichigo slit it into the black sheath that now hung to his waist.

He smiled dumbly as he felt the blade safe his his sheath, his smile changed to a look of surprise when he felt a strange and uncomfortable feeling in his body.

_**'Oh yeah, I may have been eating whilst you were away...get ready to throw all those lovely souls up. What a waste.'**_Before Ichigo could respond his body exploded with pain.

Dark purple reishi began leaking out of every wound he had on his body, getting stronger and stronger until it was like a waterfall. He screamed in pain as he felt hundreds of thousands of souls being ripped through him, each one in pain, each one screaming themselves.

'_Don't worry about them Ichigo, I purified them as they left.'_Zangetsu's calm voice resounded through his head as the mist around him dissipated into thin air. However it did nothing to stop the searing pain racking his body, and he quickly fell forward, his bloody chest mingling with the sand below.

Ichigo remained conscious for a second longer before passing out with pain, his body completely battered and begging for rest.

He failed to see the small figure flying towards him across the sand dunes.

* * *

><p>(AN) Thanks to all those I can't thank via message for you're reviews, really keeps me going.

Glad you understood last chapter, this one has more exposition :o Oh and and Ichigo's new Shikai is basically the one he uses once he regains it in the fullbring arc, minus the straps since he has no fullbring to create them.

It took a looong time for me to decide on the release command. Many people think it would be different, at first it was going to be 'cut the moon', but that doesn't make any sense because one, Zangetsu is the '_slaying moon_' so it would be cutting itself? And two, it kinda ruins the IchiRuki imagry of the moon and the sun. So I took this from Zangetsu's first speech to Ichigo, since it would be then when Zangetsu would normally tell him, and there is a lot about Ichigo not being scared to fight, even later on.

Long exaplaination done xD I hoped you liked the chapter, I would have updated it earlier today but I woke up late since I didn't get any sleep last night -.- damn pizza. I look forward to reading the reviews!


	19. A not so glorious return

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Nori Ito looked down the street sadly, dirt and poverty filling it. She shook her head, this was only the 67th district of Rukongai, and law was already a thing of the distant past. The differences from here to the 80th district were mostly attitude and the poverty, the 80th had the worst of it.

The further you got from the Seireitei, the more chaotic and angry the people acted, violence became more and more common.

"Maybe one day..."She said wistfully as she looked over at the white buildings far in the distance, just sticking out as she stood on the highest hill in the area. It had been a long time since she had seen any shinigami in the area, she was just a child then. Even so, she remembered how awed she was at the warriors.

Sighing, she turned around, the sun that was peeking out from the clouds lighting her face as the breeze played lightly with her brown hair. '_I hope I see another one...'_She thought idly, thinking wistfully about the black robed shinigami.

Little did she know, her prayer was about to be answered.

On her way home she felt a sudden unease as she walked down the dirt path. Shaking her head she frowned as she still felt it and looked to the right, where it seemed to be coming from.

Her eyes widened in shock as a black rip tore open, the strange feeling seemed to be coming from it...and it was not pleasant. She took a step back, and let out a gasp as something fell from the gap, landing on the slightly grassy field beneath it.

"What the-" She started, looking up as the black hole seemed to sew itself back together, being replaced with the slightly cloudy sky of the Soul-society.

'_What the hell is going on?'_She thought, breaking out of her frozen state.

"H-hello..." She heard a child's voice call out from the mound on the ground, and she started walking tentatively towards it.

"W-who are you?" Nori called out as she walked closer, the single mound splitting into two: one much larger than the other.

"Please, please help him..." The child's voice called out again, definitely a girl. She broke into a short run as she realised that there might be a child in danger, worry racing in her mind.

"Are you okay? Help who?" She said as she reached them, her eyes scanning over the two bodies.

The small form appeared to be that of a little girl, with long green hair and a hood covering her head. She was huddled against a much larger form, her fists holding it tightly and her tears making the black rags damp...black rags..._black robe._

Her eyes widened as she looked over the other form. It was _definitely_a man, she would have blushed but the circumstances were not the most opportune to be gawking.

'_What the hell happened to him.'_ She thought in horror as she looked over him. His chest was covered in deep wounds and burns, a mixture of blood and sand seemed to be clogging most of the wounds at the moment but they needed to be cleaned at _least_. Her eyes grew wider as she inspected the rest of his body, bar the area that the tattered -she assumed- shinigami robe clung on to around his waist. His right arm was damaged beyond belief, twisted out of shape and slick with blood and sand already. The rest of his body seemed to be covered with the same assortment of vicious wounds, her eyes moved up to his head.

His eyes were hidden under a mop of dirty orange hair, looking almost like rust from the filth that coated it. His face had gashes and bruises all over it, his jaw looked to be broken as well.

She leaned down as he muttered something, few drops of blood running out of lips. "...Ru...kia..."

"Itsigo, please...Itsigo." She looked down to the child, who appeared to have just collapsed against him. She appeared to be unhurt physically from what she could see, but this man...Itsigo, clearly meant something to her.

As quickly as she could she got up and ran towards her home, she would need her brother to give her all the help he could if these two had any hope of making it.

* * *

><p>Pain. That was the first thing that shot through his mind as he was pulled out of unconsciousness. Ichigo gritted his teeth as his twitched his arm slightly, pain burning dully in the tattered appendage. Groaning, he pushed his eyes open, even his eyelids stinging.<p>

"...not in a stable condition, he needs- quick, he's waking up." A female voice rang in his ears, but he couldn't lay his blurry eyes on the owner.

"Shit, okay listen shinigami, try not to move. You don't want to bleed to death now do you." A new, male voice spoke up as his vision started to clear.

"Quiet Haru, just watch his arm." His vision finally cleared and he winced, looking up at the figure to his left.

The woman looked to be over average height, and her short, brown hair was hanging forward as she looked over him. Turning his head slightly to his right he saw a similar looking man, with longer brown hair, tied back somehow.

"Hey, can you hear me?" The woman asked softly.

Ichigo tried to widen his eyes a bit, but ended up wincing in pain again. "Yeah...what's going on?"

A chuckle from the man turned his attention to him. "What's happening is that we are saving your life, shinigami. Please don't move much or the bandages will break and you will start to bleed again."

Ichigo exhaled and rested his head back, running his mind over what had happened to try and figure out where he was. Memories flashed back to him and he pushed him self up suddenly, Hueco Mundo fresh in his mind.

"NO! Stop that." The woman shouted out, pushing him back down, even as his wounds started dying the ragged cloth around him red.

"Dammit, we don't have any spare bandages, you can't open any more wounds!" The male shouted, shunting Ichigo back down. Ichigo's vision was already hazy with pain, black lining the edges as he struggled to force himself awake.

After a few moments he relaxed as much as he could, taking deeper breaths and looking back at his helpers. "W-who are you?" He croaked, his voice hoarse after his hollows screams and the desert air.

"I am Nori Ito, and this is my brother: Haru Ito and we-"

"We are the ones you owe your life too." Her brother finished, smirking slightly. Nori rolled her eyes, but apparently this was common as she didn't shout at him.

"Thanks then, or I would have been a goner." Ichigo responded, a small smirk twitching his lips up.

Haru was quick to smirk back at him, bending over him slightly. "No problem, you should be thanking my sister, she found you wasted on the mountain. Though I hear you shinigami get a nice amount of money..." He trailed off into a chuckle and Ichigo made a note to give him some if he wanted it, it wasn't like he used it.

Nori didn't seem to find it as funny. "Knock it off, we don't need anything from you. I'm happy to see you aren't dead for now, you look like you should be."

She grimaced at the last part and Ichigo just chuckled. "Yeah, I get that a lot." Looking around as far as he could without pain he noticed the sparce surroundings. They appeared to be in a shack of some sort, two bed rolls laid out on the floor and another room of to the right.

"Where are we?" Ichigo questioned.

Haru gave a mock bow as he responded. "Welcome to our humble abode in the south, 67th district of Rukongai." Ichigo widened his eyes, that explained the poor living conditions, he had known it was bad but still...

"Rukongai? I've been here briefly before..." Haru snorted and walked away from where Ichigo lay, washing his hands in a small basin of water.

"Yeah, you shinigami forgot about us lot a long time ago." Ichigo heard the resentment in his voice.

Nori spoke up softly, defending him. "Let it go Haru, we know that it would be difficult to change these areas." Even though she was defending him, Ichigo could still hear the sadness in her voice, his mind filling with resolve to help these people.

"I haven't been in the Seireitei for long compared to others, but I will make sure things get better for you." Haru snorted again and walked over to the door to the next room.

"Yeah, you say that, but what could one new shinigami do, you probably can't even kill a hollow." Ichigo growled and was about to correct him. He was interrupted as Haru was knocked aside and a loud cry filled the room.

"ITSIGO!" His eyes widened as a hooded green blur launched itself at him, landing on his damaged chest.

"Nel? W-" He was cut off as pain shot up his body and he groaned.

Nel didn't notice, and continued to sob into his bandages. "Itsigo, Nel's so happy you're alive! Nel was 'fraid you might die, why would you scare Nel like that again!"

Nori looked down at the heart warming scene and smiled softly, even Haru's lips twitched up as he was brought out of his anger.

"We'll be outside, please don't move to much." She said softly, waiting for his nod before they left the room.

* * *

><p>"Haru, how quickly can you get to the Seireitei?" He looked surprised by the question, but considered it for a moment.<p>

"Uhh, In a few days if I go as fast as I can, why?" She looked back at the room they had just left worriedly.

"Regardless of what I can do, he will die if he is left without proper attention. He's a shinigami, so he needs to get back there anyhow."Haru sighed and looked out of the small window to his left.

Finally nodding his head he moved towards the exit. "Fine, I might be able to get a message to them sooner if I manage to meet a shinigami along the way. There will be a few from the 10th district up, then they can get a message to the people that want him back." Looking back at her he lowered his tone slightly. "How much time do I have?"

Nori looked worriedly towards Ichigo again. "Every day is a gamble in his current state, I managed to numb the pain as much as I could with some herbs...but it won't save his life by any stretch."

Nodding with a grim expression, Haru opened the door and started running off on his long trip.

"Nel, how did you find me?" Ichigo asked when she had calmed down a bit, now simply huddled in his good arm on his bandaged chest.

She looked up in confusion. "Nel felt Itsigo enter a while before she found him, but then you disappeared for a while! Nel was sad that you didn't visit her, but then Nel found you all hurt!" Ichigo smiled down at her, holding her a bit tighter.

"Don't worry Nel, I'll be fine." She huddled into him a bit tighter, and Ichigo looked over her cloaked form once again, a question forming in his mind. "Hey, how did you get me back here?"

"Nel needed to save Itsigo, and my saliva wasn't working. "Ichigo waited for more, but it never came, she was just looking at him with big eyes.

Ichigo remembered when she had last saved him, she had transformed into her adult self and fought Nnoitra to protect him. Had she done something similar this time? If so, could she transform at will, or was it still tied to emotion, and did she still have amnesia? He had many questions to ask her, but for now he just patted her slightly and laid back, relaxing into the fabric beneath him.

"Thank you Nel, I will try not to put you through that again." The two sat in silence, remnants of her tears still visible on his bandages.

"She's very cute." Nori's voice broke him out of his rest and he shifted his head to her.

"Yeah, I guess so." He shrugged slightly, not enough to wake the, now sleeping, little Arrancar.

"Is she yours?" Ichigo turned red at the question, his cheeks puffing up as he held his spluttered response inside to keep from shouting out at her. After a few moments of deep breathing he looked back at Nori, cheeks still red.

"N-no, she's not mine. I just know her...we saved each others life once." Nori's eyes widened as she looked down at the little girl, mouth hanging open.

"B-but your a shinigami! How did she save your life?" Ichigo looked back at her, in her average ragged clothes and general normal appearance.

"It...It's a long story, I'd rather not get into it." He didn't know why he did it, but for once he shied away from telling someone his identity. He was famous in the Seireitei and outside, nearly everyone had heard of him somehow. He was lucky his appearance was so ruined in some respects, and that his Zanpakuto was sealed.

He needed a moment of peace, he knew his body was on a thin line at the moment, even if the pain had been numbed somehow. For now, he would just be a random shinigami until her brother got back from -what he presumed was- the Seireitei, with whoever was going to collect him.

Nori shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Fine, is there anything you do want to talk about?"

Ichigo gave a weak chuckle and looked around the room. "How long have you been living here?"

"My brother and I died over ninety years ago, since then we have been living in this district." Ichigo paled slightly at the age. He should be used to it by now, considering Rukia alone was over one hundred years old at least, and the Captains went way beyond that.

"How long have you been a shinigami?" Nori asked, after all he didn't look weak, yet he was clearly in a terrible condition.

Ichigo considered this, wondering if he should count his time as a substitute. "About 10 months." 7 in the world of the living, and three as a Captain.

"That little? Well how long have you been dead?" Ichigo paled slightly and decided to play it safe.

"Uhh, 10 months." Nori widened her eyes.

"Really, you became a shinigami right of the bat?" Ichigo chuckled nervously, raising his less injured arm to rub his dirty hair a bit.

"Yeah, sure." Nori looked a little envious of him, so Ichigo focused his attention on her for a few moments since it was never his strong suit. A couple of seconds later he smiled as he found what he hoped was there.

Nori continued, oblivious to his actions. "Wow, I wish I could do that..." She looked of wistfully.

"You can." She snapped her head back to him.

"But I don-"

"I can feel your spiritual pressure, even if it is small. That's enough to start with, and I bet your brother has a little buried in him as well if you do." Her eyes widened and she started at Ichigo, at a loss for what to say.

After her stunned silence she stuttered out all she could think. "R-really?"

Ichigo smiled up at her. "Yep, though you might have to wait for a while, I don't know when the next academy examination is. Shouldn't be to long though-" he was cut off as she pulled him into a hug.

"Oh thank you, Itsigo! People always said we should if we ate, but we never knew!" Ichigo turned red: One, there was a girl randomly hugging him when he had barely anything on. Two, he was in a great deal of pain right now. And three...she had called him Itsigo. His discomfort was ended by an annoyed looking Nel.

"Excuse me, would you mind getting of _my_Itsigo?" She was glaring at Nori, having been pushed aside by her hug.

"Wha- oh sorry, I didn't think anything of it. I always hug my brother..." She trailed of at the fierce glare that was being directed at her.

"Uh, Nel what's up?" Ichigo asked, oblivious to the young girls feelings.

Nel's eyes softened as she looked back at Ichigo, crawling into his lap and curling into him. "Nothing, Itsigo." Nori smiled at the little girls possessiveness, leaning back on her knees.

"Sorry if I imposed, Itsigo. " Ichigo clenched his teeth slightly.

"Uh, actually my name is Ichigo." Nel saying it was one thing, but this was getting irritating. Nori looked a bit surprised by the information.

"Ichigo? Like the winter war hero?" Ichigo began to get nervous, glad for once that his trademark hair was dirty enough to not give him away completely.

"Oh yeah, I never thought about it like that." He said weakly, cursing the fact that he had given her his time as a shinigami...which would be the same as what she knew if she had been told.

"I heard that he lost his powers after he defeated Aizen...I wonder how things are in the human world." Ichigo gave a non-committal jerk of the head and shrunk down into his bandages, wanting to avoid any potentially dangerous topics.

* * *

><p>Renji looked dully at his unfinished paperwork. The entire Seireitei had an air of gloominess about it, aside from a few lucky squads. Ichigo's sudden death had affected most of the squads, many of the Captains openly showing sorrow.<p>

Of course the 6th Squad had carried on as usual, Captain Kuchiki not even acknowledging the fact that Ichigo was gone. Despite his outward appearance, Renji had noticed ever so slight changes in the stoic captain.

He was less harsh, his voice a tad softer and he let things go where otherwise he would have punished the member of perhaps the entire squad. The boys death had hit him somewhere, Renji was sure of it, though maybe it was just Rukia...

Rukia. Predictably, she had taken his death the hardest, crying for hours after the sword had faded into nothingness. It was even worse for her because she knew he had died alone, likely against a hollow, in the hell of Hueco Mundo.

After her initial grief, she had shut herself in his room at the 5th squad barracks, not letting anyone in or going out for anything. Food had been slid in, but no one knew if it had been eaten. Renji was suffering too, the man had been a good friend to him...and now he had died saving his life.

"Stupid bastard..." Renji muttered, resting his head on the unfinished work.

"...tenant...Lieutenant...Lieutenant!" He heard a voice calling down the corridor and lifted his head in irritation.

The door slid open, revealing a flustered looking 6th squad member. "Lieutenant Abari!"

"What!" He shouted back, angry at being disturbed for no reason.

"Sir, I just received a report from a hell butterfly sent by a examination unit in the 23rd Rukongai district about a wounded shinigami." Renji looked back, uninterested.

"So? Why should I know, tell his squad to help him." The messenger continued, un-phased by Renji's blasé attitude.

"Please sir, the wounded shinigami was said to be quite tall, with light brown eyes and dark orange hair..." Renji's eyes widened as he put together the description, desperately trying not to hope. "...and he had a little girl with green hair and a cloak with him."

"Green hair and a...Shit! What is the report." That little Arrancar, it had to be. She had been quite taken with Ichigo in Hueco Mundo, so she would have done anything to save him.

The messenger stuttered slightly under his ferocious gaze. "T-that the wounded shinigami is in the 67th south district, and is in a critical condition."

Renji almost leapt out of his chair, pushing past the nervous 6th squad member and looking out into the corridor. He was relived to find a group of officers walking just around the corner.

"Oi, stop there!" They turned to see their Lieutenant and an unseated member, one looking almost excited and the other looking scared.

"Yes, Lieu-" He was cut off as Renji flash-stepped to him, causing the group to step back.

"You men are coming with me, we've received information relating to Captain Kurosaki's location, and that he may be alive."

No one said another word as they raced out of the barracks, Renji moving as fast as he could towards the injured Captain.

'_Hang in there, Ichigo.' _He thought as he grimaced. If ever there was a time he needed the strawberry's luck to save him, it was now.

* * *

><p>(AN) Ah, you al thought the reunion would be this chapter? Wrong. :) Just keep waiting, I really enjoyed writing the reunion scene so hopefully you will too! It has everything needed :D even stuff it doesn't need for good measure heh.

More cookies to those who those who guessed it would be Nel collecting Ichigo's sorry ass. I couldn't leave her stranded in Hueco Mundo now could I! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for the reviews so much! This is a special thanks since we hit 200 (209 now), so give yourself a pat on the back :P

Looking forward to your rage reviews! :)

P.S The most recent anime episode (342) was just so...IchiRuki xD So IchiRuki it hurt, in a good way. There was much fan-service, but it was Kubo approved fan-service so its okay :P Brilliant job by the animators, voice actors and the sound-crew, thanks to all for translating the final scene so well from the manga!

If you haven't seen it then watch it now. Here's something to make you, Ichigo and Rukia go ice-skating...yeah. It may be non-cannon fluff until the end but dammit it is awesome!


	20. The reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Ichigo stirred in his rest, hearing a commotion somewhere near the house. He winced as an all to familiar aching ran through his body, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.

"...I need to see him!" A loud voice finally convinced him to raise his head and glare towards the door.

"Fine, but like I said, he's resting so would you mind being quieter sir?" Nori sounded hesitant as she spoke to, what he assumed, was a shinigami. Ichigo racked his mind for the voice, but his addled brain couldn't place it.

Nori walked in and behind her trailed a red-headed shinigami. Ichigo gave a small smile as he recognised Renji, who stopped and stared at Ichigo's condition.

"Yo." Ichigo croaked out, his voice still sore.

Renji took a step towards him, taking in his ruined appearance and the bloody bandages on his arm. "...Jesus Ichigo. What happened to you!"

"It's kinda a long story." Ichigo glanced towards his host. Renji followed the glance and picked up on the meaning, exhaling and glaring at him.

"Fine, but you owe it to us later." Ichigo nodded, wincing in pain as he tried to sit up. Nori was by his side in an instant.

"Please don't try and move, your injuries are to severe." he groaned and fell back onto the bed, blood already seeping through his bandages. Renji winced and called out to his men, who were in the room in an instant.

"Okay Ichigo, we have to get you to squad four immediately. This might...hurt." Ichigo grimaced but nodded. Renji motioned for the men to stand beside him.

"Be careful with him, especially his right arm." Nori said softly, watching as they prepared to lift Ichigo in his make-shift futon.

"I'll be okay, and I will make sure you get what you want. " Ichigo responded, fresh resolve burning in his eyes. Renji groaned and slapped his hand to his head.

"Dammit Ichigo, how do you always end up making promises like that." Ichigo gave him a small smile as he prepared for the pain to come.

"Because I can do it, Renji." Renji rolled his eyes. '_The guy'll never change I guess.'_

"Okay, lift him up and follow me men." His men all grabbed an edge of the mattress.

"Yes, Lieutenant Abari." They chorused, lifting Ichigo up between them.

Ichigo groaned as the mattress and bandages rubbed against his battered body, gritting his teeth in pain. Nori looked away, knowing just how bad his wounds were. She had been helping people with wounds for a long time in this district, and she had never seen any wound as bad as even one of the ones littering his body.

"Later Nori, tell your brother I'll be back." She looked at him again, not really expecting to see him again. If his wounds didn't kill him then she didn't expect his subordinates to let him back here.

"Okay, farewell Ichigo." He raised his left arm in a painful wave and then relaxed back down, focusing on dealing with the pain.

Renji escorted them out of the house, and they stood waiting for his command.

"Okay, guys. Be as fast and as smooth as possible, if you've ever needed to pay attention, now is the time. We need to get all the way back within 24 hours, no stopping." Ichigo opened an eye and looked at the men around him, wondering what Renji was doing.

His eyes widened as he realised. "Wha- Renji don't!" Renji ignored him and gave the command.

None of them noticed the small, black haired figure that was watching them curiously as they prepared to leave. She was perched in one of the surrounding trees, wide eyes watching the proceedings with interest. She looked to the red-headed shinigami as he raised his hand towards his group.

"Let's go." In an instant all six here gone, flash stepping in synchronisation towards the Seireitei.

* * *

><p>It had been four days. '<em> four days since Ichigo died.'<em>Rukia thought, her mind had been ringing with that thought all day. She couldn't find the energy to get out of bed, out of Ichigo's bed, or to care that everyone knew where she was. Ichigo was dead.

She curled into the duvet some more, but had no more tears to shed at the moment. Maybe later she would find some, but for now all she could do is shiver and sob dryly into his covers. She had been here so long that his smell was fading from them, being replaced instead by her own. That thought did managed to bring a few fresh tears to her eyes.

'_It will be like he never existed.'_She shifted slightly, angry at herself for thinking such a thought. She would always remember him, no matter what.

Hearing one of the squad members walking past the room, her mind flew back to when she had told them of the...event.

_~Flashback~_

_Rukia stood before a large group of shinigami, all gathered in the squad five hall, chatting amongst themselves. They knew that their Captain had gone missing in Hueco Mundo, but she doubted that any of them understood the true nature of the situation. Well they would now._

_Steeling herself, she spoke out. "Attention squad five, I have information about Captain Kurosaki." There was a wave of heads looking up and she heard a fer voice shout out._

_"The Captain? Is he okay?"_

_"Where is he?"_

_"I knew it, nothing kills that guy!"_

_The last one made what she had to say all the more harder...because somewhere deep down that's what she had thought. Ichigo didn't die, that just wasn't him._

_"A-Actually, we have been able to confirm the fact that Captain Kurosaki..."She paused, hating herself for making these words true by saying them. "...fell in Hueco Mundo. He is dead."_

_The reaction was swift. Silence weighed down on the room, suffocating all those inside. It was like no-one could believe it, and Rukia had to admit, she had a hard time herself._

_"A-are you sure?" A timid member called out, looking as stunned as the rest._

_Rukia felt her eyes start to water, but blinked it away and nodded. "Yes, earlier today his Zanpakuto...disintegrated."_

_There was silence again, before the room erupted in noise. Shouting was coming from all sides and Rukia was overwhelmed, the usually strong woman taking a few steps back._

_"No way, you must be mistaken!"_

_"Does this mean you are our Captain for now?"_

_"How did he die!"_

_Rukia stuttered against the surging crowd. "I-I don't know..." She choked out, tears filling her eyes as she looked at the people that Ichigo had left behind._

_"How could the Captain's leave him to die!" she heard a voice shout, and that was enough. Tears now falling freely from her eyes, Rukia ran to Ichigo's room, slamming the door shut behind her and falling down onto the bed._

_There, she let out her grief for the first time since her first outburst, simply letting it pour out of her like a river. She had so much left to do with him...so much left unsaid._

_Now he was gone._

_"I-Ichigo...why?" She asked desperately into the duvet, tears soaking it quickly_

_~End Flasback~_

Rukia had hardly moved since then, only shifting in the bed from time to time, or grabbing a tiny sliver of food from one of the many options that had been slid into the room. She heard a scuffle outside, but ignored it, letting her eyes dip into a semi-open state.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki!" The voice registered on the edge of her mind, but failed to rouse her from her grief.

The door was shoved open, a panting squad member behind it. "Lieutenant Kuchiki, please I have urgent news."

Rukia didn't move, she couldn't bring herself to care. The Soul-society could fall apart around her and she might not even care. She felt hands shake her suddenly and she flinched and narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Leave me." Her voice was dangerously low as she spoke, the unfortunate messenger taking a step back.

"B-but Lieutenant, we have received urgent news about...about Captain Kurosaki." Rukia's eyes widened and she shot up from her huddled position in the duvet.

"What! What did you say?" Her mind was struggling to comprehend the words. Ichigo was dead...so why did they have to remind her, to give her empty hope.

The 5th squad member stammered at the intense look in his Lieutenants eyes. "Well, L-Lieutenant Abari was reported as bringing Captain Kurosaki to the fourth squad barracks..."

The rest was cut off as Rukia shot out of the room, her mind focused on getting to the fourth squad.

* * *

><p>"Oh my...quickly get him to the bed." To say the fourth squad Captain was shocked at the sudden arrival of the 'dead' Captain was an understatement, along with a very exhausted looking Lieutenant. She had lamented that he had died so young, but she had seen so many come and go that she couldn't afford to let them get to her.<p>

Now here he was, teetering on the brink of death, but very much alive. She would save him; she had seen the grief his death had caused, and would not allow the pain suffered by all to be pointless.

Ichigo groaned as he was put down on the hard mattress, his wounds crying out in pain. Unohana grimaced as she looked over him, calculating his chances of survival in her mind.

"Right, everyone leave. I need only the most capable to do my best for him...ah Isane, on that side please." Her Lieutenant had just rushed into the room, eyes widening at Ichigo's prone form.

"Captain...what happened-" Her Captain cut her off as the room emptied and was replaced by the senior members of squad four.

"I don't know, but we need to clean and heal his wounds before he dies of blood loss." Her eyes were caught by the bundle of brown cloth that seemed to have been left by his side after his rough transfer. "Please get rid of that, Hanataro." The, now 4th seat, nodded and pulled at the cloth, trying to move it away from Ichigo.

He pulled his hand back when the bundle moved, revealing the sleeping face of a little girl. He looked up at his Captain. "Captain, it's a child!"

Unohana's eyes widened slightly as she saw the green haired face peaking out from the bundle. Glancing at Ichigo, she picked up the child swiftly, yet making sure not to wake her. Calling in a subordinate she passed the little Arrancar over.

"Please tell Lieutenant Abari to look after her...and warn him that Lieutenant Kuchiki is on her way, she cannot be allowed to enter...so he should try to stall her if he can." She finished with a sad smile, she knew that Rukia would not be sated until she at least saw the young Captain. If that is what it took to stop her from interfering then it would have to do.

Turning her attention back to Ichigo, she quickly took in his semi-unconcious state. "Let's start by removing these bandages, the wounds will need to be clean before they can be healed." The shinigami around her nodded and moved into action.

Isane and Hanataro both unbinding separate sections: Isane his chest and left arm, Hanataro his legs. His tattered shihakusho had been discarded, leaving a now naked Ichigo only able to twitch slightly as his bandages were removed.

Unohana took his right arm, taking in the extensive bandages and the crimson colour that they seemed to be stained. After unwrapping a few layers, her brows furrowed in worry as she unveiled the extent of damage to his flayed arm. A crusty red layer was cracked all along the arm, with a segment of bone sticking out half way down his forearm.

Reaching over, she took a cloth and began to carefully wash the butchered flesh, noting that both Isane and Hanataro mimicked her actions on the, now bandaged, Ichigo. Even she had to wince slightly at the true extent of his injuries, the man had been in hell.

As fate would have it, this was when a petite and agitated shinigami shoved open the doors, violet eyes looking wildly around for the orange-haired Captain, finally resting on his tattered form.

* * *

><p>Renji tapped his foot with a mix of anxiousness and irritation. Ichigo was, to put it bluntly, dying whist Captain Unohana worked on him and all he could do was babysit the little Arrancar who was so taken with Ichigo and was currently lying besides him on the bench, sleeping soundly. His own exhaustion from the trip was being put on hold by adrenaline, this was precious time that he couldn't waste sleeping.<p>

'_It's so frustrating!'_Renji screamed inwardly, not wanting to incur the wrath of the fourth squad Captain...he was not that stupid.

On top of all that he had been warned that Rukia was on her way here, and that he was supposed to try and delay her seeing Ichigo...right. Renji didn't have a death wish, and knew that Rukia would not hesitate on using whatever force she wanted to see Ichigo at this time. Added to that his lack of energy, he doubted he could stop an academy student at this point.

"Renji?" '_Speak of the devil'_He thought with a groan, looking up at the face that had kept itself hidden for four days.

Rukia was breathing heavily, and there were small bags forming under her slightly red eyes. Her hair was messy and...'_Shorter?'_Renji noticed that her hair had gotten shorter since he last saw her, now stopping at her neck rather than hanging down to her shoulders. Even her Zanpakuto seemed to be suffering, the hilt looked messy and unwoven, the strands jutting off at odd angles. It hung to her side limply, held by a loose knot almost as if the blade had been an after thought.

"Rukia...wait a moment-" She cut him off, walking towards him with fire in her eyes.

"Is it true Renji, is he here?" Her voice was almost a whisper, hoarse from crying.

Renji ran a hand through his red locks and grimaced at her. "Yes, he is in the next room being treated by Captain Unohana and a few others-" She didn't wait for him to finish again, instead striding towards the room.

Renji tried half-heartedly to stop her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Rukia, please, he's in a critical-" She grabbed his hand with one of her own, interrupting him with an almost frozen voice.

"Don't you dare try and stop me Renji. Remove your hand." Renji held out for as long as he could, foolishly keeping his hand on her shoulder as Unohana had asked him.

A second later he was watching Rukia head off towards the room, upside-down from his new position on the floor. He sighed, at least he had tried.

* * *

><p>Rukia's eyes were wide with horror as she saw the state of Ichigo's body, her mind not even registering that he was currently naked. His skin was stained a pale crimson from the copious amounts of blood that he had lost, the only exception his face, which was simply a very pale white. She wanted to look away but she couldn't, her mind taking in every wound, every tear of his flesh, ending up on the arm that Unohana was cleaning.<p>

"Ichigo...no..." She couldn't stand to see him so weak and helpless, he looked like he was already about to walk through deaths door. But he was here, he was alive. Ichigo was alive...for now.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki, I must ask you to leave." Unohana's stern but caring voice ripped her eyes from the morbid fascination of Ichigo's body.

"Bu- he's hurt, I-I..." Renji limped into the room behind her, deciding to take a risk and put his hand on her shoulder again.

"And the Captain will only be able to help him the best she can if we are out of her way. Come on, Rukia." Rukia looked between the three of them, finally allowing herself to be led out of the room, but now without one last look over her shoulder at Ichigo.

Renji led her to the bench, sitting her down besides Nel. She looked at the floor for a moment, coming to terms with the situation, before she turned and almost threw herself into Renji's arms.

"R-Renji, he-he.."Renji sighed and wrapped one arm around her, putting another on her head and running it through her hair to calm her down. He had seen Rukia worse than ever before whilst Ichigo had been missing, he prayed that this would be the last time in as long as possible that he would have to see her in such a state.

"Ichigo will be fine Rukia. You know Unohana, she won't give up on a patient if he's got the will to live, and if the strawberry's got anything then it's the will to live." Renji gave a small smile, but Rukia's expression didn't change from her worried one.

"Itsigo?" They both looked around to see the tiny Arrancar sitting up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Rukia pulled away fro Renji slightly, wanting to get a better look at the child Nel.

"Yo, Ichigo is being healed at the moment, you can't see him." Renji answered her unasked question, causing her to frown.

"Itsigo...wait does Nel know you?" She looked between the two shinigami, trying to place them.

Renji rolled his eyes in slight annoyance. "Did you forget, we were in Heuco Mundo with Ichigo."

Nel's eyes shone with recognition and she leaned towards the pair. "Oh yes, now Nel remembers, you are Istigo's friends. You had the big snake, and you...you were the other one he was trying to save!"

Rukia blinked in confusion, her tiered eyes looking at Nel with confusion. "M-me? No, Ichigo was trying to save Orihime." But Nel shook her head and crawled closer to Rukia, grabbing a bit of her shihakusho.

"No, when Itsigo was fighting Ulqui the first time he said he felt you get weaker and kept trying to leave to help you." Rukia's eyes widened, she hadn't known that he had felt her almost die after her fight with the 9th Espada. She hadn't known his reiatsu sensing skills were that good.

"What _is_your relationship with Itsigo?" The repeated question came out of the blue, and Rukia looked in shock to the small girl with slightly narrowed eyes.

"I-we...well...friends." She managed to stutter out, her face red. Renji snorted, crossing his arms and muttering under his breath.

"Yeah right." Rukia glared at him, but the effect was lost as her cheeks were still dusted a light red.

Nel continued to look critically at Rukia, almost analysing her for some reason. Rukia didn't know what had got the girl so agitated, or why she cared about the _strictly platonic_relationship she had with Ichigo.

'_...Like you've never thought about more...'_A familiar soft voice rang through her head. If Rukia could she would have glared at the woman, she didn't like being ganged up on by everyone.

'_My thoughts are my business Sode no Shirayuki.'_She heard the Zanpakuto sigh softly.

'_And your happiness is mine, I do not want a repeat of the weather you have given me of late. Don't let him go Rukia.'_The spirit was silent after that, leaving Rukia to ponder her words, and stew silently at the assumptions everyone had made.

Nel's sombre voice broke her out of her thoughts. "Don't hurt him, Wukia." Rukia looked in shock at the child, seeing her adult intellect shining through her childish eyes. A second later it was gone, replaced with childish curiosity and happiness. "As long as Itsigo is happy, I am."

Seconds later the small Arrancar had crawled into the lap of the stunned shinigami and curled up in her shihakusho. Rukia hesitated, but put a hand on the girl, feeling the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

"Seems like Ichigo's not the only one popular with the ladies." Renji snickered, earning him a glare from Rukia.

* * *

><p>Around seven hours later, Unohana emerged from the room, her white haori slightly spattered with blood. She looked into the waiting room, slightly surprised to see that the original three had grown with addition of other squad members: Ukitake, Shunsui, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto had all joined them in waiting for her news.<p>

It was Shunsui that spoke up first. "Ah, Retsu, how is he?"

"He is stable." A collective sigh of relief rolled over the group, Toshiro just nodding boredly.

Rukia eyed the blood stains apprehensively, and Unohana noticed her gaze responding with a grimace. "I apologise for the blood, he had a lot of broken bones and we had to snap them back into place before healing them properly." They winced slightly, none of them enjoying the thought.

"So, can we see him?" Ukitake asked. This was a rather novel experience for him, it was usually him who was in a bed with others visiting him.

Unohana looked at the group, then back to Rukia, who still had Nel huddled in her lap. "Yes you may, however I would like his Lieutenant to see him first, I'm sure he has missed some work in his absence." Rukia hesitated, but everyone smiled at her reassuringly, and she passed Nel over to Renji, and padded her way over to Ichigo's room, almost hesitantly.

Scolding herself, she pushed his door open, walking into the room without looking at him, and closed it behind her. She kept her eyes on the floor as she walked around to the side of his bed, finally looking towards him.

"Ichigo." She gasped as she rested her eyes on him. He was clad in a white robe, but what had shocked her was that his face was almost as pale as the robe. '_Stable, Unohana said he is stable now.'_She dragged her eyes away from his face, running them over his bandaged appendages, his right arm seemed to be held in place by a combination of thick white cotton, bandages and straps. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know why that was.

"...hmm...what." Rukia looked up in surprise to see Ichigo stirring, his face rolling towards her slightly, and his eyes fluttering open against the bright light.

"Ichigo.." Rukia breathed out again, watching as his eyes found hers, her breath caught in her throat.

Ichigo started into the large violet eyes for a few moments, refreshing them in his mind after a month of pain before he slipped into a small, genuine smile. "Yo, Rukia."

Rukia gave her own smile back, her eyes filling with emotion. "Fool, that's all you can say for yourself after you leave all the work to me for over a month."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, scowling at her slightly. "And this is the welcome back I get, a scolding by my midget Lieutenant, what-" His eyes widened as she descended on him on a deep hug, pulling herself against him and letting silent tears dampen his pristine white garb.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot. Don't ever be so foolish again, Renji can take care of himself. You left us here and all we knew was that you had probably been captured and your reiatsu had disappeared, we only knew you were alive because Zangetsu was still here. But then-then it turned to reishi and I-we-we thought tha-that- you were..."She didn't finish, still crying into Ichigo's chest.

He ignored the mountain of pain for a moment, absorbing what she had just said. They had thought he was dead...she had thought he was dead. Looking down at her he pulled her into his arms for a swift hug before pain overrode his senses and he pried her off.

"As much as I appreciate the hug, my body is in a bit of pain." her eyes widened in realisation and she pushed herself up, hands on either side of his chest holding her up.

"O-oh, sorry, I didn't hurt you did I?" Ichigo chuckled at her concern, shaking his head lightly.

"Nah, I'm not as weak as you midget." Her unkempt face turned red and he frowned at her haggard appearance, reminding himself to try and help her with it. He guessed that some good sleep would do wonders, despite that, she still looked...'_beautiful'_Ichigo blushed slightly at the thought hastily pushing it away.

"Your hairs changed...it's shorter, I like it." Ichigo said hesitantly blushing slightly, he wasn't used to complimenting her like this. But she deserved it for what he had done to her.

"Fool, I-I don't care what you think." She replied with a stutter, her own cheeks now matching Ichigo's.

Rukia was on the verge of giving him a taste of her mind for calling her a midget earlier when her eyes rested on his lips. She remembered their last meeting. '_maybe when you get back'_ He was back now, and he had gotten her the plushie that was currently in his bed. '_Crap, memo to self: move Chappy before Ichigo gets back, he can't know I've been in his bed for the past four days.'_

Her attention turned back to his lips. He was close, she could feel his heartbeat, the hard chest beneath the silken robes, and his warm breath brushing against her. It didn't exactly smell good, but then what did she expect considering where he was.

Ichigo was faring no better, he was trying to banish all the thoughts he was having now that Rukia was leaning over him. His hollow was not helping, cackling at him and calling him just as perverted as he was. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to clear his mind.

Rukia was about to pull back, but then she saw him close his eyes. Something snapped as she saw him lying there, looking pale as a ghost and as calm as if he were asleep. She wanted to comfort him, wanted to hold him, wanted to...feel him. Instead of pulling away she pushed forward, barely noticing anything else as she leant closer to him, her heard pounding in her chest. Her own eyelids drooped as his face drew closer.

Ichigo was breathing deeply, trying to calm down and not give anything away to Rukia. He couldn't let her see what he was thinking '_I'm only a teenage guy for fuck sake!'_He screamed inside his head despite the fact that he was legally an adult now. He continued to try and push the thoughts out of his head until he was interrupted and his body stiffened.

His eyes shot open as he felt something brush his lips, a pair is violet ones mirroring his. Rukia's eyes had opened after her lips touched his, shocked with what she had just done...and how enticing it had been, how exhilarating it had been. The new experience had sent her brain into haywire and she could only sit, her lips a breath away from his.

Ichigo's pale face had flushed red, his cheeks now clashing with his hair and his eyes wide with shock. Managing to string some letters together he stuttered them out. "Ru-kia?"It wasn't a statement or a question really, it was just...her.

Her name slapped some sense into her brain and she pulled away a bit, inwardly mourning his lost body heat and instantly scolding herself for thinking such things. "Well, I said you could have one if you came back...and you did." Ichigo just started at her for a moment, before giving her a sheepish grin.

"Well...thanks." Rukia pushed herself away from him, jumping off the bed and turning back around to face him, her cheeks now loosing the red that had been thrown up on them.

"No problem, would you like to see the others?"She just wanted a change of topic, the tension was making the air thick and she didn't like it.

Ichigo looked at her curious, but thankful for the change in topic. "Others?" Rukia rolled her eyes and walked out of the door, returning a few moments with a group behind her.

Ichigo could honestly say that he was surprised so many people were here just because he was, though he suspected that Toshiro and Rangiku were only here because Rangiku didn't want to work.

"So, you stopped sleeping you lazy strawberry?" Renji joked, smirking at Ichigo.

Ichigo smirked back, resting his left arm on the side of his bed. "I've probably still done more work while I was away than you have in-"He was cut of by a loud scream.

"ITSIGO!" The green blur that was Nel shot past the Captains, landing on Ichigo with a loud yelp from the young Captain. He winced as he looked down at the happy Arrancar.

"Are you all better now, Itsigo?" He sighed and pulled her in with his good arm, unable to stay angry at her when she looked so cute. (Though he would never dare admit it.)

"'Spose so Nel, I've just got to wait until my arm heals up, and my blood builds back up, which will be another week or so." He gave her a small smile and she grinned widely back at him.

"I knew you would be okay, me and Wukia didn't have to worry!" He snickered at Rukia's new name and she glared at him. '_To think I wanted him back'_but behind her anger she was smiling, Ichigo hadn't changed.

"Nice to see you are alive, you gave us all quite the scare Ichigo." Ichigo looked up at the flamboyant 8th squad Captain and smirked.

"I'm not gonna let some random hollow kill me off, you'll have to deal with me for a while yet." Ukitake chuckled with Shunsui and smiled warmly down at him.

"That's good to hear Ichigo, Yamamoto will be pleased that he won't have to fill your space." then he turned around and Shunsui followed, pausing at the door.

"I apologise, but Shunsui and myself are actually rather busy, but it is very good to see you back Ichigo." Shunsui gave his own farewell and then the two senior Captains were gone, leaving Hitsugaya and Matsumoto to come up next to his bed on his right side, Renji standing beside Rukia who had a hand on his left shoulder.

"We should be going too Rangiku, I'm glad to see you are well Kurosaki. Sorry I couldn't find you on the search mission." Ichigo waved his hand.

"Don't worry about it, there was no way you would have found me." Hitsugaya turned to go, Rangiku however, had other plans.

"Noo, we can't go yet Captain! My fellow Lieutenants and I have to-to discuss how to get more work done!" Everyone dead panned at her, not believing her in the slightest. In the end, Toshiro just sighed, walking out of the room.

"Whatever, Rangiku, I'm in a good mood knowing we won't be down another Captain. However, I won't be doing your work and it will be there when you get back. Bye, Kuchiki, Abrai, Kurosaki."

"Later Toshiro!" Ichigo called as he walked out of the door, getting an angry shout back.

"It's still Captain Hitsugaya to you!" Ichigo chuckled and Rangiku shrugged, sitting down and pulling Renji down with her.

"Man am I glad he's in a good mood. Good thing you got back Ichigo, things were all depressing when they said you were dead." Ichigo didn't know what to say, so just shuffled Nel in his arms.

"Uh thanks, how have things been-" A squealing Rangiku cut him off, bending over the girl in his arms.

"OHHH what's this, she's adorable. Is she yours? I didn't notice Rukia getting pregnant, who did you knock up?" Both Ichigo and Rukia flushed and Ichigo spluttered as he tried to fight against her sea of noise. Renji just howled with laughter, finding the whole thing hysterical.

"No, no she's not mine." Ichigo finally managed to get out, causing Rangiku to stop for a moment and look up at him in confusion.

"Well whose is she?" Ichigo frowned. Nel didn't have any parents, and to be honest he didn't like the idea of sending her back to Hueco Mundo, not when her power was so volatile.

Pulling back her hood, he showed off her little mask. "Nel is a former Espada, but she can't maintain her adult form, despite getting her memories back when I was with her it seems." Rangiku picked up the child, who was fully alert by now and looking curiously at Rangiku.

"Hey lady, your chest is kinda like mine when I'ma all grown-up." Rangiku blinked and looked down at her ample chest, then back at Ichigo as if for confirmation.

Ichigo blushed and looked away. "Nel's adult form is definitely...curvy." He distinctly remembered being crushed to unconsciousness with the parts that she was referring to after his fight with Grimmjow.

"So what do you want to do, little Nel?" Rangiku asked, smiling down at the girl. Nel's face brightened and she pulled herself into Ichigo's robes.

"I'm staying with Itsigo!" Ichigo sighed but it was the only choice available, he didn't want her in Hueco Mundo, and he was the only one she knew in the Seireitei.

"Yay, Ichigo's a daddy. I'll go and sort this with Yamamoto, come on Renji, let's leave the family alone for a bit." She practically dragged Renji out of the room, with him catching one last glance before he left.

It did almost look like a family, albeit a strange one: what with one tall orange haired man, one short black haired woman, and somehow a little green bundle that was still glaring slightly at the black haired woman. Renji snickered to himself, at one point he might have been jealous of Ichigo but now, now he was glad he wasn't the one who was between a little girl and a _slightly_taller (yet sometimes as immature) woman.

"God save you Ichigo." He muttered as Rangiku dragged him of to tell the Captain-commander about the Arrancar who was now staying in the Seireitei.

* * *

><p>(AN) Ah here it is at last! The long awaited reunion, even the title tells you that so no tricking this time. Ichigo is very much alive due to Renji's impressive shunpo and I even gave you a kiss!

This was one of the few chapters that I actually re-read and changed multiple times to get it right along with the next chapter. I actually really enjoyed writing it! Not that I don't a lot of the story but some bits do tend to drag on, however I had random inspiration for this.

Nel will be staying of course, you'll see exactly how next chapter. But Ichigo is back, huzah! You can stop shouting at me for the reunion now :P I hope you enjoyed this, please leave a review to tell me what you thing!

The next chapter will be after I get 25 done, but it won't be long as always. I just have to figure out where this plot-line is going, well I know where it's going, but there are a few gaps between here and there xD.

Thanks for the reveiws as always guys, I've been thrilled at the big turnout for the last few chapters! Keep it up and so will I :P


	21. Doctor's orders

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

_**Arc Three – Return of the lost**_

There were no other words for it. Ichigo was sulking. It had been a few days since he had come back, and he was already getting restless.

"But I want to go and see the squad!" Ichigo complained, crossing his arms childishly over his chest.

Rukia rolled her eyes, glaring at him. "Ichigo, Captain Unohana said no, and that I have permission to beat you back into bed if you try anything."

Ichigo glared at her, but he couldn't be to angry. Rukia had been besides him as much as she could during his recovery time, even going so far as to being some of her work with her when she came by.

He looked over his body for a second, analysing it. A lost of his wounds had healed, though Unohana had told him that at least a few would leave scars. Ichigo wasn't bothered, he already had his fair share from after his fighting in the soul-society, and a few courtesy of the Espada. He was even proud of a few of them, most of all the one below his heart, where Rukia had stabbed him.

The only wound still bothering him was his arm, which was tender as the skin was still repairing, and his blood had yet to replenish.

"Can you at least tell me how things are going in the squad?" Rukia smiled inwardly. Ichigo had become more attached to his squad before he left, and his months absence was not sitting well with him. '_Like a true Captain'_She thought, proudly.

"I've told you before, everything has bee fine. In fact we barely noticed that you were gone." Ichigo scowled.

"Fine. How has work been?"

"There hasn't been that much, aside from the extra for you." Ichigo scowled and grumbled slightly. He had been a bit miffed to find that he had been pronounced dead in his absence, and had to confirm that he was, indeed, still alive.

"Wait a little next time, I don't want to tell you I'm alive again." Rukia's features softened and she looked away.

"Don't let there be another time then." Ichigo turned his head towards her.

"There won't be, the bastard just got a cheap shot on me." Rukia smirked, Ichigo hadn't had any bad side effects from his...trip that she had seen yet, though he hadn't told them exactly what had happened yet.

"You better make sure, I'm not covering your work next time." Ichigo smirked back at her, and held her gaze for a few seconds longer . After a few moments they both looked away, blushing slightly.

They hadn't discussed the kiss, in fact they had actively avoided the topic. There had been a few awkward moments, but both decided to just pass it off as a friendly kiss...for now. Ichigo ran his healing hand through his hair, wincing slightly.

The tension was broken by an unexpected cry. "ICHIGOOOOO!" Ichigo widened his eyes in horror as an all too familiar figure burst into the room.

"What the-" He was cut off by his own yelp of pain as his father landed on his chest.

"Too slow boy, even when healing you should be-" He was cut of by Ichigo's fist slamming him into the wall besides the door.

"You bastard, what kind of father does that!" Rukia was surprised, she had seen the Kurosaki family...traditions, but didn't expect him to do it when Ichigo was injured.

"You're getting old to let my pupil beat you Isshin." Yoruichi smacked him on the head as she walked past, Urahara following with his cane over his shoulder.

Isshin sniffed, fake tears steaming down his face. "I have taught him well." Yoruichi rolled her eyes and sat down next to Rukia, leaning back as Urahara stood on her other side.

"Well, well, well, you're not looking to hot Ichigo." Ichigo scowled back at Urahara, the older man grinning slightly fro underneath his hat.

"You try being tortured for a month and then we can compare injuries." Rukia's eyes widened and she started, glaring at Ichigo.

"You never told us you had been tortured!" Ichigo winced and the two older men chuckled.

Isshin rose from the floor, looking pityingly at Ichigo. "Bad mistake son, never keep information from your future wi-" Rukia silenced him this time, not sparing him a glance as he flew, head-first, into the wall for a second time that day

"Not the time. Now, tell me _exactly_what happened out there Ichigo." The young shinigami Captain cowered under her fierce gaze, looking over to his mentors for support, only to see Urahara and Yoruichi grinning at him.

Exhaling he looked away from Rukia as he answered. "I was captured, and the hollow: Telior, came every day to play his 'games'." Rukia's face was steeled into passiveness, but Ichigo saw worryin her eyes.

"What kind of games did the two of you enjoy?" Urahara asked, his own face grim.

Ichigo waved his hand in dismissal. "Oh you know, he liked to torture me. He said he wanted to see how long it took to break me without killing me. After that he...killed me I suppose." Despite the flippancy of his tone, Rukia saw the loathing that was flaming in his eyes. She was surprised that this was all that had happened, after a month of pain all he emerged with was hatred of his captor.

"You've shown tremendous will power Ichigo, to emerge from such an event mentally unscathed." Urahara's light tone smiling down at Ichigo.

He just shrugged and relaxed back into his bed. Rukia moved forward slightly, putting a hand tentatively on his shoulder. He looked up at her in surprise, and looked into her soft eyes. He quickly looked away, suppressing a smile.

"Do you remember how you got free?" Yoruichi questioned, her curious golden eyes resting on him.

Ichigo frowned, hearing his hollow relay, with great enthusiasm, how he had freed him. After a few moments listening to the gory description, he shut the hollow off and turned his attention back to the four waiting in his room.

"According to my hollow '_**Shirosaki now!'**_yeah, yeah." The looked at him strangely and Ichigo elaborated. "He wants to be called Shirosaki now. Anyway, apparently he took control of my body and killed him after Telior took me out of the bindings to gain my reiatsu."

Urahara raised his eyes, looking with interest at Ichigo, like he was a new experiment. "Oh, so he has given himself a name now, did anything else happen between you whilst you were in Hueco Mundo?"

Ichigo glared at the scientist, certain that he always knew more than he let on. "You could say that, he and I reached an...agreement." They waited expectantly and Ichigo continued. "Basically, he has agreed to re-merge his power with Zangetsu, in exchange I have to give him some free time in Hueco Mundo every now and then."

Rukia got up in anger, looking down on him angrily. "Are you crazy Ichigo? We are shinigami, we can't let a powerful hollow loose to devour souls, I-" He cut her of, glaring angrily.

"I'm not that stupid Rukia, I will be watching and he has to finish them off using Zangetsu." The two continued to glare at each other until Urahara interrupted.

"As much as I enjoy your arguments, Ichigo, would I be correct in saying that this is why Zangetsu can now be sealed?" Ichigo nodded, looking at the katana propped against the wall.

"Yes, Zangetsu explained the restoration of his true power to me, and said that I would also be able to seal him now that my powers are working in unison." Urahara tilted his head in consideration.

Bringing his fan out he waved it gently back and fourth. "Do you know how this will affect your power?"

Ichigo frowned and looked at the blade. "Zangetsu said that I will maintain the ability to use my hollow abilities separately, but that my Shikai and Bankai will have changed slightly, both growing more powerful. He also advised that I practice with both, but be wary of my Bankai, as I will need time to truly master it now, since before I was fused with him and didn't need to."

Urahara nodded in interest, his eyes flicking to the sword. "Hmm, I will look forward to that. You growing in power is a fearsome thought indeed." Rukia cracked a smile.

"Renji won't be happy, he thinks you are too powerful as it is." Ichigo snorted in dismissal.

"Whatever, the guys got way more experience." Urahara's mischievous eyes turned to Rukia, giving her a look over.

"What about you miss Kuchiki, I know that you had been training before Ichigo was promoted." Ichigo looked at Rukia curiously, who frowned slightly.

"I've been focusing on my Zanjutsu, also I...I've been trying to talk to my Zanpakuto again." Rukia was almost embarrassed to admit it, she knew she wasn't as skilled as her friends. Ichigo surprised her by grinning widely at her.

"Really? That's great Rukia!" Rukia smiled back at him.

"You think so?" Even if it was Ichigo, she hadn't expected him to be so enthusiastic.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, Rukia was the most self-deprecating person he knew."Of course, in fact I know just the person to help you."

Rukia widened her eyes in surprise, leaning forward in expectation. "Really, who?"

Ichigo chuckled, and saw Urahara smiled behind her. "It's a Captains job to teach his Lieutenant isn't it?"

Rukia blinked, looking at him. "You?" It came out like an insult and Ichigo scowled, looking away.

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not good enough, midget." Rukia glared back at him.

"Don't call me a midget, you oversized strawberry! I was just surprised you wanted to help." Ichigo looked at her with a confused expression.

"Why wouldn't I want to help?" Rukia shrugged slightly, she hadn't thought that he would be able to , considering the way he got his power.

Ichigo sighed, smirking as he remembered what Sode no Shirayuki had told him. "By the way, your sword wanted me to tell you to stop closing yourself off to her, otherwise you will never be able to release her true power."

Rukia's eyes widened in shock and Urahara chuckled softly. "Deary me Kuchiki, you should know that to truly be a shinigami you must work in complete unison with your Zanpakuto, baring your soul to each other."

Rukia turned to glare at the shopkeeper for a second, but was more interested in what Ichigo had said. "How did you talk to Sode no Shirayuki?"

Ichigo gulped, he hadn't been looking forward to telling her this. "Uh, well when my hollow took over I was forced out of my body for a moment because of the amount of hollow reiatsu."

Urahara leaned forward with his eyes shining with unbridled interest. He raised his hand to comment but was stopped by Yoruichi who grabbed his hat and threw it out of a window.

"No, my trademark hat!" Urahara ran out of the room, Yoruichi rolling her eyes and Isshin chuckling at his friend.

"Carry on Ichigo." Yoruichi said, settling in to watch, what she hoped, would be fireworks.

"Uh, right. So in that short space of my mind kinda latched onto the most familiar thing, and we have had our reiatsu's linked by the transfers of power we have shared, so I ended up in your inner world-" Rukia cut him off by punching his arm in irritation.

"Idiot, didn't you think that was an important point!" Ichigo scowled, rubbing his bruised arm.

"Not really, but I guessed you would be irritated by it." Yoruichi chuckled , looking with amusement at the two.

"You might not know Ichigo, but part of a shinigami marriage, or 'soul bonding' is to give each other access to the others inner world that's why Rukia is so angry." Ichigo's glare faltered, a guilty look crossing his features.

Rukia continued to glare at him, also hiding her embarrassment that he might have heard...anything that she had thought. "Exactly, at least tell me you didn't mess about in there you fool?"

Ichigo snickered, but was silenced by a glare from Rukia. "Jeez, don't be so serious. When I got there, the weather was terrible but Sode no Shirayuki found me and took me to some cave. After that we chatted for a bit and then she put me to sleep to recover my reiatsu before I returned to my inner world to fight my hollow."

Rukia eyes him suspiciously, but didn't argue. '_I take it he isn't lying?'_She questioned mentally.

'_I think you would know if he was, Rukia.'_The gentle voice replied and Rukia agreed silently, she could usually read him well after all.

'_So is what he is saying true, am I not open with you?'_She questioned timidly. She was proud of her Zanpakuto, and didn't want to hear that she had been neglecting it in any way.

Sode no Shirayuki sighed slightly. '_I'm afraid I told him the truth Rukia. You locked yourself away after you lost your mentor, and that boy. Ichigo. He has helped you but you need to completely open yourself and stop hiding things in the depths of your mind from me."_

Rukia replied, almost sounding desperate. '_What do you mean? I haven't tried to shut you out!'_

'_Maybe not intentionally, but when you lock your feelings away, you lock yourself away from me. Now let it go, the past will always be there, but the future can only be dark if you dwell in it.'_ Rukia nodded, ignoring everyone else in the room.

'_I will, Sode no Shirayuki. I will not fail you."_She felt the Zanpakuto smile and her happiness soared at the thought of truly connecting with her sword.

"Yo, Rukia? You in there?" Ichigo asked, snapping his fingers in front of her. Moments later he was back against the bed, Urahara's cane having knocked him down.

"Now, now Ichigo. You should know when someone is talking to their Zanpakuto, you have enough conversations with the assorted spirits in your head. My guess would be that her blade is explaining your story to Rukia." Ichigo scowled back at him, barely listening.

"What the hell? Don't throw your sword at me!" Urahara chuckled, taking back the cane that was flung in his direction.

"This? This is but a humble cane, Ichigo." Ichigo responded by throwing an empty box of bandages at him, which the shopkeeper quickly dodged, slipping next to Isshin and Yoruichi.

"How long have you been listening, Kisuke?" The ex-Captain pondered it for a moment.

"Until I thought I could come back in without being beaten or having something of mine stolen." Yoruichi smirked and Isshin gave him a high five.

"I know what you mean, the youth today can be so violent." Isshin answered giving Ichigo what was supposed to be a sympathetic face. Needless to say he would have been punched if Ichigo had not been injured and the door had not opened at that moment.

"Captain!" He turned to see a group of shinigami looking excited at the entrance, and quickly noticed that they were from his squad.

"Yo guys, 'sup?" A few chuckled and were about to enter the room before they saw that he had company.

"Uh, we could come back later if you want, sir?" Ichigo waved it off, pointing to an unoccupied bit of space in his room.

"Nah, just ignore these guys aside from Rukia." At this Isshin started face crying and ran to his side, kneeling down besides him.

"Oh cruel fate, why does my son not want to tell his friends about his daddy!" Ichigo growled and tried to punch him, only to have him scoot away chuckling.

"Nice try son, but too slow. You are setting a bad example for your squad!"

The members of the squad blinked I surprise at the exchange, looking at Rukia for explanation. Rukia had just sat still after her discussion with Sode no Shirayuki, and was now watching the fighting pair with amusement.

Since it was clear she was not going to explain this, the recently promoted 4th seat looked at the mad man with a haori of some description. " Y-you are Captain Kurosaki's father?"

Isshin grinned and strode up to the group, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yep, I'm Isshin Kurosaki and that lunk-head is my son." Ichigo growled but was unable to reach the man to shut him up.

His fourth seat blinked then bowed deeply, the rest of the squad following his lead. "It's an honour to meet you mr. Kurosaki. I am Fourth seat of squad five, Azumi Kochi." Isshin looked over the woman. She was average height with long brown hair tied up in a bun.

The next member introduced themselves: "Hey, I'm 8th seat Katsuo Tamaku." He had short, spikey black hair, one side slightly longer than the other.

The final member of the trio glared at Katsuo. "Don't be so impolite to a senior! Hello sir, I am Yasu Endo, 11th seat of squad five." The second female had shoulder length blonde hair, and had been the one that spoke out against him after his...drunken acts. Needless to say her attitude had changed quickly and she was the type of person who always stuck to formality's.

Isshin chuckled at them, giving them each another look over. "Not a bad lot of squad members you got here, at least you got some eye candy-" Rukia cut him off by punching him in the face.

"God, thanks for that Rukia." Ichigo groaned, already wanting to fall into his blankets and die from embarrassment.

Rukia smirked back at him. "No problem, as your Lieutenant I will do your job when you are indisposed."

Ichigo chuckled back, deciding to push his luck. "Oh? You know I am rather thirsty." Rukia deadpanned in response.

"Don't push it strawberry." Ichigo huffed and turned around as he heard a noise. Urahara and Yoruichi had risen and Urahara had picked up a self-conscious Isshin and flung him over his shoulder.

"Are you guys going?" Ichigo asked, almost sad to see them go. They were at least always...interesting to be about.

Yoruichi turned and smirked at him. "Yep, we can't stay for long anyway. Besides, being around all these kids is making us feel old...even if we don't look it." She shot Ichigo a wink. "You can attest to that, ne Ichigo?"

She and Urahara chuckled as they left the room, leaving a red-faced Ichigo and a room of shinigami looking at him with eyebrows raised. Katsuo was the one to break the silence with a whistle. "You banged her? Nice one man, you know how to pick the ladies, first Kuchiki then her-"

He was cut off by Ichigo throwing a clock at his head, fuming. "Shut up! I didn't do anything like that, Yoruichi just like to screw about..." He stopped when he realised what he had said, noticing the surprised expressions on the two females, and the angry one on Rukia's.

'_Why is she angry?'_He wondered vaguely, before correcting himself. "No wait, what I mean is that she just likes to get me hot and-" Rukia finally bust, jealous anger that she didn't know she was capable of erupting.

"What!" Ichigo cowered in his bed, waving his arms franticly at her.

"Please listen, nothing like that! She just wants to embarrass me. I'm sure she's with hat and clogs, I've heard them flirting." Ichigo prayed that he wouldn't have to deal with the wrath of an angry Rukia now, he wasn't in his best shape.

Rukia huffed and sat down, grossing her arms and looking away. She didn't know what had come over her, but the thought of Ichigo with Yoruichi was...disturbing. It made her angry, and she almost wished the woman was still here for her to- '_Kuchiki, you are a KUCHIKI!'_Rukia shouted in her mind, trying to calm down.

Ichigo looked at her for a moment before he looked back to his squad officers. "So, why are you guys here?"

"Yasu wanted to check that you were alive and well! Also to check you out." Katsuo piped up again, slowly getting up from the floor. To which he was promptly knocked back down to by a flustered Yasu.

"I did not! I, um, that is to say...we wanted to ask about the little girl you brought back!" She thought quickly. Distasteful as she found his brash manners, she couldn't deny his body but would be damned if she told him that.

Rukia glared at the girl, which Ichigo was oblivious too as he responded. "Nel? Retsu said that she would take care of her since she was already doing something with Yachiru. It shouldn't be long until the paperwork clears though, since the old man...grudgingly agreed and central 46 can say what they want."

Rukia stopped glaring at Yasu and turned to him. "What paper work, Ichigo?"

Ichigo blinked at her and cocked his head to the side slightly. "Haven't I told you about this?"

"No, now tell me." Rukia demanded, getting impatient..

Ichigo scowled back at her. "Yeah, yeah midget I will." He ignored her glared and continued. "After an, apparently heated, discussion on my behalf by Rangiku, and to a lesser extent Renji, Old man Yamamoto has decided to let her stay here in the Seireitei."

"And?" Rukia asked, still wondering what he hadn't told her about.

"And she is in the form of a little girl with that mentality most of the time, like Yachiru, so I've done the only thing I could to keep her permanently safe." Everyone looked at him in confusion and he clarified.

"I've filled out the forms to adopt her officially." There was silence as everyone took in the news, Rukia being the first to break out of the trance.

"Ichigo..." She said softly, not really sure what to say. He was only eighteen after all, nearing nineteen but still barely a man legally. On top of that he had duties as a Captain, and a shinigami.

"Listen Rukia, just listen to me for a moment." She hesitated but nodded, watching as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Nel is still just a kid Rukia, no matter how old she is. Kenpachi is as good as Yachiru's father as well! She may have been a hollow but that just makes me want to help her more, she spent long years of her life in loneliness, and she doesn't like violence, so imagine what knowing that you are a creation of violence does to her!" His voice was raising now as his eyes burned with passion and sorrow.

"No one deserves that, least of all a little girl. I left her in Hueco Mundo Rukia, I won't let her get into that situation again, I won't leave her alone." He finished in a whisper, and Rukia knew that face. It was his guilty face, no matter what he still felt guilty about leaving Nel in Hueco Mundo without getting her out of there somehow.

Rukia smiled and looked at him for a second...before punching him in the face. Ichigo snapped to one side, balancing comically for a moment then falling out of his bed, landing in a heap on the floor, with the other shinigami watching in shock.

"What the hell, Rukia!" He shouted, trying to untangle the bed sheets.

"I needed to wipe that pathetic look of your face Ichigo, you always let your guilt get the best of you!" He blinked and looked up at her, the small form towering over his crumpled one.

"But I-" She glared at him and kicked him in the stomach.

"Did you forget that I was an orphan Ichigo? I know how much this will mean to her, even if Nii-sama was cold at first I still loved him and was thankful that he had taken me into his family. You have done a good thing Idiot, I was just thinking about if you had truly thought it through?"

Ichigo was helped back onto his bed by the squad officers and moved about, trying to relax. "Yeah I have, even though Nel is a kid in body and mind to some extent she's not stupid. She is stronger than the Lieutenants if she needs to be so she wouldn't be in much danger if I had to leave urgently, besides no one at the squad will harm her." He looked at the officers who all nodded, Katsuo taking a few seconds to register the question.

Rukia sighed and sat back down next to him. "That's not what I meant. What about food and the other things that a child needs? You can't be with her all day to entertain her, you have work to do."

Ichigo scoffed slightly and waved his hand in dismissal. "I've got plenty of money, she doesn't need to eat souls any more so it's not an issue. As for entertainment...I have a squad at my disposal and hopefully a certain pink-haired Lieutenant will become friends with her."

Rukia smirked slightly, not used to Ichigo actually planning something out. "So that's why she's out with Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Yachiru?"

Ichigo smirked back and nodded. "Yup, she needs to make some friends here...that reminds me, you will have to help me take care of her at the office."

Rukia blinked back at him then snorted. "You expect me to? Nel is not some pet you can buy then pass of to another." She felt his reiatsu spike in anger and grimaced internally for her surprising lack of tact.

"I know _that,_what I mean is that you have experience with children from when you were in Rukongai. I have Karin and Yuzu but I've never had to take care of a much younger child." Rukia sighed and nodded her head in acceptance.

"Fine, I will help you as much as I can. I'd rather Nel didn't end up like his _father_." Rukia joked, smirking at him. Ichigo glared back at her.

"Well at least she wouldn't have a stick at her ass like _your _brother, I don't want to know how you will influence the poor child's mind."

Their fight was interrupted as Retsu Unohana opened the door, her aura effectively silencing them all.

"I don't think this shouting is helping you heal, Captain Kurosaki." She said in her creepy way, causing Ichigo to gulp and Rukia to shrink back slightly. She looked around to the officers of his squad, who quickly made themselves scarce without so much as a goodbye, not wanting to face her if she was angry their Captain could deal with that one.

"Itsigo!" Her aura disappeared as Nel popped up from one side of her shoulder, smiling widely.

"Hey Nel, did you have a good-"

"Hey there, Icchi, and shorty!" Rukia sweat dropped at her new nickname from the Lieutenant who was hanging on the Captains other shoulder.

Ichigo lifted a hand in a wave. "Hey Yachiru, have you and Nel had fun?" Nel nodded her head vigorously and Yachiru beamed.

"Yes! Nel has had lots of fun with Yachi, she even gave me something!" Ichigo raised his eyebrow but watched as the young girl pulled herself over Unohana's shoulder and hopped to the ground, revealing her prize.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw what she was wearing: a shinigami shihakusho. It fitted her loosely much like her old robes, and a scrap of them still remained, hung around her neck and down in what looked like the remnants of her hood.

"Wow Nel, you look...like a shinigami!" '_Aside from the mask'_He thought to himself, not wanting to ruin it as she smiled widely.

"Yup, now Nel can stay here with Itsigo because she is like him!" Ichigo chuckled at her reasoning and was about to reach over to tell her the good news before Captain Unohana spoke up.

"We all had a good time Ichigo, but there is something else I would like to tell you." Ichigo looked up at the woman, who seemed to be genuinely smiling at him.

"Yeah?" He asked, guiding Nel over to Rukia, who looked down at her in surprise.

"Can Wukia pick Nel up?" The girl questioned, almost shyly. Rukia blinked in surprise, but then smiled warmly down at her and did as she asked, setting the small girl in her lap.

Unohana watched this interaction but then turned back to Ichigo. "The Captain-commander said that he will see you tomorrow, it seems he is interested in exactly what you want to do since I only told him you wished to ask him something important yesterday."

Yachiru hopped up next to Nel and started playing with the girl in Rukia's lap, the two throwing small sweets at each other. Rukia just sighed as she sat in the crossfire, trying to listen to the other adults rather than the noises of a child and a just-teen.

"Good, I will at least be able to move without pain by then. Do you think he will agree?" Ichigo asked, wondering what the older woman thought of his new plan, now that Nel had been all-but confirmed, but this was much bigger.

Unohana smiled genuinely at the boy, truly happy at what he was going to try and do. It wasn't every Captain that would try and do something like this so soon, if ever. But if anyone could, he could.

"I think you are doing a very good thing Ichigo, and it is long overdue. I think the Captain-commander knows this, so will agree to see if it is feasible. Be warned that you may have to play hard to get through to him and show that you have what it takes though." Ichigo smirked at this, glad that the much older woman had confidence in his idea.

"Don't worry, I know how to show the old guy I'm not messing about."

Rukia scowled as she caught bits of the quiet conversation, wondering what was going on. Ichigo was going to see the Captain-commander tomorrow...

'_...but why?'_

* * *

><p>(AN) I know, I know, you wanted more IchiRuki-ness, but rest assure it is in later chapters. Relationships (especially with people like Ichigo and Rukia) need more than one spark to start the fire. Or so I've heard, I can't really comment :P

I really like this chapter, it was fun to write! Also I've introduced more characters, I swear I already have to many but there you go. The more people who are introduced to Isshin's madness the better?

Yes we are going straight into the next arc! It's growing at the moment since I'm getting ideas as I write it and hope you will enjoy it! No time for respite just yet, Ichigo's on a mission :P

Thanks again for all the reviews! I was so very happy with the amount for this chapter :) I'm hoping we can get to 300 reviews before the story hits 100,000 words :P what do you say? Maybe I should offer something to the person that manages to get there before 100,000?

Meh, I'll think about it xD for now your reviews really do motivate me to write more! Perfect example is that the chapter I just finished (25) is the longest I've written :) The chapter length does vary though so sorry about that!


	22. Cleaning the streets

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Ichigo walked steadily towards the doors to the Captain-commander's office. He was paying more attention to walking after his injuries, since this was the first time after he had recovered and his legs were still a tad painful.

Arriving at the door he knocked on it, absently reaching up and running his hand along the new, sealed hilt of Zangetsu. The black sheath attached to his back as he was accustomed to, the handle the same size as any regular katana, coloured black and red.

'_I've got to at least try out my Shikai soon__**.**__'_He thought with irritation**. **He hated resting when he had things he wanted to do.

"Enter." The old, stern voice called out and Ichigo obliged.

Stepping into the room and closing the door behind him**,**Ichigo walked over to Yamamoto's desk, stopping before it.

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto, thanks for seeing me." Yamamoto tried not to raise his eyebrows at the boy**'**s relative formality, as he had a distinct lack of it usually. '_What do you want boy?'_He thought, eyeing Ichigo.

"Captain Kurosaki. Captain Unohana said you had something urgent you had to discuss?" The old man was interested what had the young Captain worked up. He had already approved the boy having a hollow as part of his family, what was wrong with him now?

"Yes sir, I have a request to make of you." Yamamoto continued to study him.

"Well speak boy, what is it?" Ichigo frowned slightly but kept his temper in check.

"I want to request that all the districts of Rukongai are patrolled by the squads to some degree, not just for hollow activity but for violence and corruption that ruins the lower districts." Yamamoto knew how the boy had come back from Hueco Mundo, so this must be why he wanted to clean up Rukongai, something that had been woefully unattended over the last few hundred years.

"Do you know what you are asking boy? The amount of ground we would have to cover is immense, I advise you to cease this foolishness. The lower districts are too far gone for us to help them, sad though it may be this is the truth." The old shinigami watched with interest, he wanted to see what the boy would do now. Now that the young Captain had tried to do things in a subtle way...for him, and failed.

Ichigo stiffened and glared at his Commander for a moment before responding coldly. "Then with respect sir, I am withdrawing the fifth squad from the Seireitei."

Yamamoto widened his eyes at this, he had not been expecting such a drastic response if his first option failed. "What?" He asked in surprise, marvelling slightly at the audacity of the boy, injured as he was.

"The fifth squad will no longer take part in any Seireitei missions if you ignore the people of Rukongai. Instead we will continue to work in the world of the living and within the Rukongai districts." Yamamoto rested back into his seat and surveyed the boy who had so calmly claimed that he would commit treason.

"Watch your tongue boy, you speak of treason." Ichigo just shook his head.

"No sir, we will not fight against you, and will assist you if necessary. But I will not stand by as the afterlife is turned into a hell for those without reiatsu." Yamamoto sighed out in irritation. He wanted the districts fixed, and this could be a chance but he needed to think about this.

"This is still treason Captain Kurosaki." Before Ichigo could retort angrily, his patience wearing thin, he continued. "However, I will ignore this insubordination as you are correct. The districts of Rukongai have fallen far from what they once were. Since you feel so strongly about this, you may take your squad if you wish, and do what you can for the south section of Rukongai. This includes the worst affected areas of course, from 60-80 in particular."

Ichigo's eyes lit up with determination and he nodded his head. "I will do this, you won't regret it old man." Yamamoto sighed in irritation as the boys respect fell off him as quickly as he had put it on.

"Very well, Ichigo Kurosaki**. **You have three months to do as much as you can, after which I will decide if it is worth investing shinigami from every squad in these patrols you propose. For now you cannot request any help from another squad since you are so enthusiastic about it." Ichigo nodded again and considered this as a dismissal.

"Thanks, old man." He said, turning to leave.

As he opened the door he heard Yamamoto respond. "Good luck, Captain Kurosaki. It is good to see you recovering swiftly."

Ichigo shot him a grin in response, calling a hell butterfly.

* * *

><p>Rukia stood near the front of the fifth squad hall, frowning slightly. The entire squad was here, along with Nel who was sitting with a bored expression on the floor next to Rukia.<p>

"Do you know what the Captain wants to say?" Azumi asked, curious as to why the squad had been summoned.

Rukia frowned deeper, looking down at Nel for a second. "I'm sorry, but I don't know exactly, he just left this bed this morning for a meeting with the Captain-Commander, and then sent me a hell butterfly to gather the squad."

Nel looked up at the two, rubbing her eyes softly. "Itsigo said it was something important when Nel asked. Itsigo also looked happy."

Before they could discuss it further their Captain walked into the room, his new haori billowing behind him and a smirk on his face.

"Hey guys, I'm sure you're wondering what I've got to say."There were a few murmurs and Rukia moved to stand behind him, as Nel also pulled herself up to his shoulder.

"What is it Itsigo? Nel can see you are happy!" She asked excitedly, and Ichigo turned his head to grin at her before responding to the group.

"Yeah, old man Yamamoto has said yes, so pack your bags. The fifth squad is moving to Rukongai for three months starting today." There was silence after his words, Rukia looked around in shock before speaking up.

"What do you mean Ichigo?" He smirked back at her scratching his head as he did so.

"I mean I asked Yamamoto to give the fifth squad permission to leave the Seireitei. I want to stop the ruin of the Rukongai districts, and if we can clean up the south districts a good amount by the end of our time,Yamamoto will consider sending patrols from all squads to do the same for the rest of the districts more slowly." Rukia looked at him for a few seconds before she broke into a wide smile.

She had lived in the far reaches of Rukongai, and she knew just how violent it could be. If Ichigo thought that he could change that and was willing to stake everything on it, then she would do it with him as she always did.

"You never do things slowly do you**?**" She said softly, smiling at him still.

He just smirked back and turned to the squad who was still taking in the information. "Any questions? Because I want to get this show on the road."

A random member raised his hand, looking around slightly nervously. "Excuse me sir, but does this mean we won't be fighting hollows? And we will just act as some sort of police force."

Ichigo frowned at the tone and scoffed. "We will still have members in the world of the living, and we will still get orders for placements as always, so you might not be in Rukongai long. You'll get some hollows if you want I suppose, there will be a lot of shinigami in one relatively unprotected area. But that shouldn't matter right now**;**we are being given the chance to improve the after-life, possibly for every soul that dies. So we are going to take it!"

The member stepped back, suitably humbled by Ichigo's speech. Ichigo looked around and saw that no-one was going to argue so continued. "We will start of covering the south 60-80 section since that is the worst. I have...something to do in the 67th, so I will be there with Rukia and Nel, whichshould be enough. The rest of you will be spread out, with a lot of the officers in the zones 70-80. Once I finish up in the 67thI will come and assist you." He looked around again and grinned at them.

"Let's go, I want to get this started!" Nel giggled and looked at him from her perch.

"Nel's never seen Itsigo this happy!" Ichigo smiled back, wondering when the right time would be to tell her that he had adopted her would be.

Rukia walked up to him as his squad filed out, all talking amongst themselves. "Thank you for doing this Ichigo, you could really make a difference."

Ichigo looked down at her in surprise. "Wha- you don't have to thank me, this should have been done ages ago anyway. C'mon midget, we've got a job to do."

Ichigo paused on his way out, grabbing a large cloak with a hood**;**much like the one he had first worn when he rescued Rukia, except this was little more than a large sheet of cloth.

Rukia suppressed a smile at his enthusiasm, following outside, where the two shinigami and one little Arrancar started moving to their location. The 67thdistrict of south Rukongai.

* * *

><p>"Thank you<strong>,<strong>" Nori said as she took her food from the man. She and her brother had been working hard all week to collect money for it. They had to work harder than usual because of their unexpected visitor shinigami whom they had saved.

Nori had been helping by healing people the best she could. She was good at it, but she could only do so much without any reiatsu. Even though the shinigami had told her she had some she hadn't seen any proof of that, and neither had her brother. They still wanted to eat though and he had helped by doing jobs for the few in the district that had money. It was very poor pay, but food was expensive so Haru had worked long and hard to afford it.

She didn't regret it, but she did wonder if the shinigami would ever come back because like she said, they were running low on supplies.

Musing over her thoughts she turned and walked down the street with her shopping in hand, taking the quickest route back to her home. As she turned into a wide street she heard a cry from a figure in the middle.

"H-help me, I'm hurt! Anybody!" Her eyes widened and she ran towards the child, kneeling down next to him.

"Don't worry, I can help. What's wrong?" The child looked at her with wide eyes before he grinned and ran off, leaving her alone in the street. Or so she thought.

"What do we have here? Good job, Alf." She turned around to see the owner of the deep voice.

Behind her was standing a massive man, with patchy black hair. His face was bruised and scarred and he was holding a small blade in his hand.

Leering he held out his hand. "Give us the food luv, I don't want to hurt 'cha."

Nori stood up but didn't move towards him. "I-I could give you some if you're hungry, but my brother and I need this food too."

The man just laughed in response and raised the knife slightly. "You don't seem to get what I'm saying. Give me all the food or your brother won't have a sister."

She stepped back and turned to try and run, only to see that her route had been blocked by another man. The first one chuckled, and started walking towards her. "Now stay still girl, or I just might have to take something _else_, since you ain't bad looking."

Nori froze as he walked towards her, trying to think of anyway she could save the food. The man was a few meters from her when she felt a weird sensation and a figure appeared between her and the man.

He was quite tall and cloaked, with a hood. That was all she could say from looking at him, since he hadn't turned around to look at her.

"Looks like I got here in time. Sorry, I'm still recovering." Before she could ask what he meant he spoke to the thug. "I advise you leave and stop threatening people before you get hurt."

The man just laughed at the stranger. "You want to fight boy? Then get ready to die."

He charged, his knife held outstretched in a wild attempt to stab the man. Who just sighed and stood still.

Nori was about to scream out when she saw the two men connect, not wanting someone else to be hurt on her account. But she was stopped when the cloaked man did not fall**;**instead she heard the clinking of metal and saw the remains of the knife fall to the ground.

The thug looked up in shock at the shadowed face;he had stopped his knife with the palm of his hand. Hehad no time to react as he was thrown back, landing roughly on the ground.

"I'll give you one more chance, give up or you will get hurt." The man just scoffed and charged towards him, surprised to find himself stop only seconds into his charge.

The cloaked man had appeared before him and embedded his fist into his gut. All he could do was whimper in pain as he collapsed to his knees, looking up in hate at the strange man.

The man paused for a moment, then pulled off the cloak. The thugs eyes widened in shock as he took in the white haori and the black shihakusho, along with bright orange hair.

"I am Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain of Squad five."The man just passed out in shock, not believing that he had just tried to fight a Captain.

Ichigo sighed and looked down at the figure with slight contempt and pity. He knew these types; the sort of people who were bullies and thieves. He had dealt with them since school and wasn't about to stop now.

Turning around he saw the soul he had saved looking at him in shock. He scratched his head nervously. "Uh hey, sorry I didn't tell you before."

Nori blinked in astonishment. She had saved the life of a famous hero, who had now returned the favour and was standing before her as if everything was normal. She said the only thing she could think of.

"You-you came back?" Ichigo smirked back at her, searching for Rukia's reiatsu and pleased to find she was about to arrive.

"Of course, I keep my promises." She smiled slightly at him before bowing deeply.

"You didn't have to, Ich- Captain Kurosaki." Ichigo rolled his eyes as Rukia arrived with Nel, glaring at him slightly.

"Don't go so fast you ass, just because you can." Ichigo smirked back.

"Not my fault if you can't keep up, slow-and-short."Rukia grit her teeth in anger at the insult, then noticed the still bowing girl and rolled her eyes.

"What have you done to her to make her bow to you?" Ichigo scowled back at her.

"I saved her life, I was returning the favour. She found me after Nel brought me back from Hueco Mundo." Nel nodded in agreement from her perch on Rukia's shoulder.

"Yup, Nel remembers tha' nice lady." At this Rukia's expression changed and she walked over to the girl.

"Please, you don't have to bow to us. We are here to help." Nori stood straight and looked up...down at the short woman.

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking between the woman and Ichigo.

"Ichigo has had the entire fifth squad that is not in the world of the living stationed in south Rukongai, districts 60-80. We are going to clean up the area then move up and do that to all of the south districts." Nori's eyes widened in shock and gratitude swam in them. She had never hoped that anything like this would happen, Rukongai was in a state of ruin and that was just how it was.

"Wha-I...thank you, so much! I'm sorry but who are you?" She said, her eyes watering slightly at the gesture, but embarrassed at having to ask the woman's name.

Rukia just smiled and responded, Ichigo walked up her behind her and Nel switched to his back. "I am Rukia Kuchiki, Lieutenant of Squad five."

"Don't forget Nel!" The little Arrancar said, smiling up at her. Nori was a bit taken a back to have both a Captain and a Lieutenant here to help them.

"Ah, yes, I remember you werewith him before...are you sure you need to be here, you must have more important things to do." Ichigo waved his hand in dismissal.

"Nah, only paperwork and someone will get that to me. They aren't going to let me escape it any more." He almost pouted at the end, if there was one thing he hadn't missed, it was paperwork.

Rukia didn't miss this and smirked back at him. "What are you moaning about, I've had to do it for the last few days. Also**,**I did all your duties whilst you were gone, your holiday is over!"

Ichigo scowled back, moving his head towards hers. "I don't think being tortured counts as a holiday midget!"

Rukia hesitated for a moment, but retorted. "It's not like you did anything besides being chained up, he didn't make you run laps did he...Besides**, **you're back now!" She said the last part with such ferocity that Ichigo was silenced.

Nori looked between them for a moment, then something clicked in her mind. "Oh,_Rukia_? You're the one he mentioned before."

Rukia looked back at Nori before turning back to Ichigo and raising an eyebrow. Ichigo flushed and rubbed his head nervously. "I don't remember that..."

"It was just after you got through that black hole and I found you, so you were unconscious." Ichigo flushed deeper and Rukia also looked away, mumbling.

"Fool, you can't keep your thoughts together even when you are dying." Despite that her cheeks where also dusted red, Nori looked between the two and smiled slightly.

'_What a cute couple.'_She turned back to the woman and almost did a double take as she was suddenly hit with another reali**z**ation.

"You...Lieutenant, you look like someone I've seen around here." She frowned and tried to place the name and face as Rukia blinked in surprise.

"Just Rukia please, and I do?" Turning around to Ichigo she grinned at him in triumph. "See I'm not short, you are just tall!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You're still short, but now you have another midget to be friends with, maybe you can share your drawings with them."

Rukia growled and a vein pulsed in her forehead with anger. To insult her height and drawings wereone thing, but to insult them both? She taught him a lesson by slamming the hilt of Sode no Shirayuki into his stomach.

Ichigo groaned and bent over, Nori watching the scene in surprise. '_Shouldn't a Captain be stronger than their Lieutenant?'_

The scene was interrupted by Haru's arrival.

"Hey Nori, what's taking so long- whose this?" He turned to Ichigo and Rukia and looked at them for a second before recogni**z**ing him.

"Oh it's you in a-a..." Ichigo smirked back at him, taking a step forwards.

"Yes, I am the Captain of squad five. Now what was that you said about not being able to do anything?" Haru scowled.

"How was I supposed to know? I thought you were just another idealistic guy who would fail. Why are you here anyway?" He asked, still a bit irritated at being proven wrong.

Ichigo chuckled. "The fifth squad is cleaning up the south district for a trial run, think of it as thanks for saving my life I suppose."

Haru looked at him for a second almost critically, as if trying to see through a lie. Then he broke into a wide grin. "So the mighty Seireitei is finally here to help? You're a bit late but I suppose you'll just have more work to do."

He turned his attention to Rukia and smirked. "And who**'s**this pretty thing you have with you?"

Rukia wanted to roll her eyes, but just smiled slightly back at him. "I'm his Lieutenant, Rukia Kuchiki."

Ichigo felt something coil in his gut at the other man's...attention to Rukia. He was about to interject before Nel surprised him by beating him to it.

"Hey! Wukia already has someone like that." Haru raised his eyebrows.

"Someone like what?" Nel scrunched up her face in thought before pointing over to the jealous Captain.

"Someone that looks at her and calls her nice things." Haru looked between the two, and noticed the glint of anger in Ichigo's eyes as he glared at him. Shrugging, he grinned at Ichigo.

"I didn't pin you for the romantic type Kurosaki." Ichigo scowled back, crossing his arms in irritation.

"What are you going on about?" Haru raised his eyebrows and looked back at his sister, who seemed equally confused.

"Well you kno-" He started, wondering how to explain it before he actually looked at the two. Both looked confused, and were standing close together but not doing anything intimate.

'_They haven't reali__**z**__ed yet?"_He thought incredulously with a smirk. He and his sister were going to have fun with them whilst they were here.

"Nothing, c'mon let's go and introduce you. You've got quite the popular name." Rukia sighed as the felt the pride in Ichigo's reiatsu but didn't mention it. After all, he deserved some for all he had done.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by '<em>_.__lyingtonguesareclumsy__.'_

(A/N) A short chapter, I know but there wasn't all that much to put in it. The next one is longer, don't worry :P And now I have my new Beta to help with all my spelling and grammar mistakes! Say thank you!

Isn't much to say about this chapter either, aside from kudos to the people who guessed what was going to happen. Also, I'm sorry to anonymous reviewers, since I can't directly reply to your reviews like I do with all the others :/

Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	23. Introductions and hollows

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

"Hello everyone, glad you could make it!" Haru shouted out to the crowd, who shifted with what appeared to be discontent and irritation.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get this done quickly, some of us have work to do and stalls to protect from thieves." An old man shouted from the crowd.

Nori rolled her eyes at her brother, he always liked to be a 'showman'. He had gone to the trouble of finding something to stand on after all his running around collecting the souls milling around the centre of the 67th district.

"That's why I'm here, the glorious Seireitei has seen fit to give us a hand." Some of the crowd snickered and Ichigo and Rukia scowled from behind the stage.

"If he keeps talking like that we'll just go." Ichigo muttered in irritation, Rukia silently agreeing with him.

Back at the crowd another old man called out mockingly. "Great, have they sent some recruits down to 'see how we're doing?'" A larger ripple of laughter broke out from the crowd and Haru chuckled at what they would be thinking in a moment.

"Not really, C'mon out guys." He turned around behind him and looked behind some of the boxes.

Ichigo stood and made his way onto the stage with Rukia, Nel hanging onto his shoulder and looking around at the sea of faces curiously.

Silence met them as the crowd took in the man in a Captain's haori and with bright orange hair. Along with the woman with a Lieutenant's insignia strapped proudly to her arm. Haru laughed to himself some more before motioning to both of them.

"May I present the Captain and Lieutenant of squad five: Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki." Nel pouted slightly at being omitted.

"Don't forget Nel!" Ichigo smirked at Nel before he turned his attention back to the crowd, and some young man that had stepped forward with a dubious expression on his face.

"Yeah right, like you would find that Ichigo guy here. You're just some proxy's that those Seireitei bastards have sent, with some cheap coat on." Ichigo scowled at this, a vein pulsing in his forehead.

"Hey, this isn't cheap! The old man charged me for losing my other one and had a long rant, so shut it. We're the real deal." The man just barked out some laughter.

"Pssh, you're not that winter war guy, even I know he has a massive sword." Ichigo rolled his eyes, he should have seen that coming. After all he used to have a constantly released Zanpakuto.

Rukia looked over to Ichigo curiously and spoke to him softly so only he could hear. "They want to see proof Ichigo, show them who you are." What Rukia really wanted was to see his 'changed' shikai.

Ichigo growled in frustration, he had expected a little warmer welcome. Then again this place had been left out of the Seireitei's eye for such a long time it was no wonder they were a bit angry. Aside from any spare hollows that tried their luck he doubted they ever saw shinigami.

Sighing he drew Zangetsu from his back, the blade shining in the sun. Slicing through the air before him he shouted out the release command Zangetsu had taught him.

"Cast off your fear, Zangetsu!"There was an explosion of reishi as Ichigo's blade materialised for the first time in its true form within the Soul-society.

As it cleared Ichigo shouldered the blade like he used to do with Zangetsu old form, looking back at Rukia and smirking at her surprised face.

"Like it?" Rukia blinked and blushed slightly, not wanting to admit to herself that she had been looking at him rather than the blade. He looked impressive just standing there, his wild reiatsu now pumping out of him and almost smothering her...it was surprisingly comforting.

"Now you have a release command you really are a proper shinigami." Rukia pointed out, to which Ichigo scowled.

"I've been a Captain for a few months you know, I'd like to see you tell Kenpachi that he wasn't a proper shinigami." Rukia paled slightly at that and shut-up, not wanting to try Ichigo's plan.

Ichigo smirked as she remained silent turning back to the group who were looking at him with open mouths. "Any other questions?"

No-one responded for a moment, and then a meek looking man stepped forward slightly. "Uh, what exactly are you going to be doing?"

Ichigo thought about it for a second, it wasn't in his nature to think things through really, he just did things. "Well, I suppose for a couple of weeks we will be like a police force, dealing with both hollows and all the violence and other crimes. Just generally helping out to make this place better for the souls that live here, the same thing is going on for all of the last 20 south districts."

The man nodded and seemed placated so Ichigo scanned the crowd again for questions before he looked back to Nel and Rukia. "That covers it doesn't it?"

Rukia nodded and stepped forward slightly. "Please continue as normal and if you see us or any other shinigami around from squad five don't hesitate to ask for help if it is necessary. It would also be very helpful if anyone with information on any criminals could come to us."

With that Ichigo and Rukia walked off the stage, Ichigo giving the crowd one last look as they started to disperse. His eyes widened as he thought he saw a flash of familiar eyes, but it was gone in an instant and he shook his head in dismissal.

* * *

><p>They had returned to Nori and Haru's house after Ichigo had answered all the random questions which had been flung at him after the introduction. Rukia had simply watched with amusement as he answered the questions and tried not to get angry at some of the ruder ones. Now he was walking beside her with his usual scowl on, looking around at the outside of the house.<p>

"They really do have it rough here...I'm gonna have to clean my haori after this." Ichigo thought out loud, causing Rukia to roll her eyes.

"Just take it off if you don't want it dirty you idiot." Ichigo glared back at her and then looked down at his haori and back at her before he almost-whined back.

"No, I am a Captain and I should look like one." Rukia snickered slightly and looked up at the house.

"So you will be a Captain doing menial tasks for Rukongai spirits. That's exactly what they want to think Captains spend their time doing. DIY." Ichigo scoffed in response, turning towards her.

"I don't care what they think, besides how do you even know that term?" Rukia frowned cutely back at him.

"It was in one of Yuzu's manga and I looked it up on your box." Ichigo rolled his eyes, Rukia had refused to call his computer by name, instead referring to it as a 'box'. Then his eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, I told you never to go on it without me, how did you get into it!" Rukia shot a smug look back at him.

"Your password was easy to guess strawberry, you are still a momma's boy." Ichigo growled back at her and responded angrily.

"Shut it midget, do you remember what happened with the microwave?" Rukia blushed as she remembered the incident in question.

She had seen the Kurosaki's use it to heat things up quickly, and didn't think it looked difficult to use. Not like those stupid juice-boxes. So when she had been hungry and Ichigo had refused to feed her she had taken a can of beans and put them in the microwave...without opening the can.

The result was a ruined microwave and a very angry Ichigo ranting to a slightly more timid Rukia about not using any modern technology without him, regardless of who else was around.

"That was one time fool, besides I used that Inter-net fine without you, but I didn't win any prizes like you did when you used it." She pouted a bit then and Ichigo resisted the urge to slap his head, cute as she was.

"Those are scams Rukia, it's a good thing you didn't get any. How do you even remember the one time you used it without me that clearly?" Rukia blushed slightly again. She wasn't about to admit that she was proud of being able to use a piece of modern technology without him, yet at the same time wishing she could show it off to him.

"I-I just do, I'm sure you remember lots of useless things too!" Ichigo didn't say anything and turned back to the building.

Rukia smirked, considering the argument won, and watched as Nel pulled at Ichigo's shihakusho cutely. "Itsigo, what did you say you wanted to talk to Nel about?"

Rukia watched as Ichigo smiled widely and turned around to face the little girl, kneeling down and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"That's right Nel, I've got a surprise for you." Nel's eyes widened in childish glee and Rukia stood back to watch the heart-warming scene.

"What is it Itsigo, Nel can't wait." Ichigo grinned back at her.

"Well, I know you want to be close to me, now who do you think is closest to me?" Nel didn't even hesitate as she responded.

"Wukia." Ichigo looked at her in surprise, clearly not expecting this response but managed to stutter a response.

"Uh, I-well..." He looked between Rukia and Nel before composing his thoughts. "Anyway, with most people it is their family." Nel blinked in surprise looking between him and Rukia.

"What's that?" Ichigo frowned and rubbed her shoulder in comfort, even if she didn't need it.

"A family are those who are closest to someone and who raised them. You had your brothers in Hueco Mundo, your old Fraccion, it's like that." Nel's eyes glimmered in recognition and she nodded.

"Yup, they were Nel's brothers..." Ichigo nodded and then smiled softly at her.

"Well...you've never had a parent have you?" Nel shook her head, looking at him curiously.

"Nel can't remember anything since before Hueco Mundo, and Nel's Espada memories are not complete." Ichigo sighed in relief, at least she knew what a parent was.

"Well, then hopefully you'll enjoy this. Nel, I've sent through the paperwork to have you adopted." Nel blinked in confusion, not understanding the term.

"Adopted?"

"Basically, I will be responsible for your safety and become your adopted father, you my adopted daughter. If you want, I can also change your name so you will become Nelliel tu Kurosaki, like me." Nel's eyes widened and then brimmed with tears, pure happiness being shown on her face as she looked at Ichigo in awe.

"R-really?" Ichigo chuckled and puller her in for a hug.

"Yup, how about it Nel?" She cried with joy and held on to his robes, looking up after she had calmed down slightly.

"Nel would like that a lot Itsigo. Nel will be Nel Kuwosaki from now on!" Ichigo smiled widely and stood up, the young girl still clutching at him with tears on her face.

"Great, welcome to the family!" Nel giggled then looked over to Rukia, who was watching the scene with a soft smile on her face.

Then she looked back at Ichigo curiously. "Does that mean Wukia can become a Kuwosaki too, since Nel thinks Itsigo is closest to her."

Ichigo blushed furiously, as did Rukia and he rubbed the back of head with his free hand. "Uh, It's a bit different for adults Nel, I'm sure you will understand one day." Nel pouted slightly and looked at him.

"Nel is older than Itsigo anyway, so why can't Itsigo tell Nel?" Ichigo sweat dropped. He had forgotten that he had no idea how old Nel was, only that it was old enough to live up to a Vasto Lorde. That was a long time.

"Well, I-uh...just forget about it Nel, you will know what I mean someday." Nel looked between the two then stopped on Rukia and stuck her tongue out.

"Sorry Wukia, but Itsigo is mine now!" Rukia just sweat dropped and gave the girl a small smile.

The scene was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and the two shinigami and one little Arrancar turned to see who it was.

"H-hello, ?" Ichigo looked at the speaker, a timid looking boy. Rukia rolled her eyes as the boy looked slightly scared at the scowl Ichigo was so accustomed to wearing.

"Yo kid, what is it?" He looked around at his friends who pushed him forward slightly. Then he responded in a more forceful voice.

"We wanted to show you about this place, since you are going to be here." Ichigo blinked in surprise, not expecting that, then smirked at the small child.

"Sure, since we need to know the area this will do nicely." The child smiled and his group smiled with him, Nel looking down on them curiously.

"Let's go then Mr. Captain, you too Ms. Lieutenant!" Rukia smiled at the child and the three followed the group along the dirt path towards the town.

"Just call us Ichigo and Rukia please." Rukia said and the child shook his head in response.

"I couldn't be so rude!" Ichigo groaned slightly.

"Then at least drop the Mr. and Ms. because that is kinda irritating." Rukia glared at Ichigo for his blunt statement but the child just nodded in response.

"Okay Captain, I'm Teru!" Ichigo smiled back at him then looked at another of the children, a small girl, who was pulling on his haori.

"Can I ride on your shoulder too, Captain Strawberry?" Rukia smirked widely at Ichigo who twitched slightly in irritation. Refraining from glaring at the child he scooped her up and placed her on his shoulder. He was glad at least that it had been the youngest looking one there, she looked around the same age as Nel.

The little Arrancar glared at the small girl who was smiling happily as she occupied Ichigo's other shoulder. "Watch out for my Zanpakuto." Ichigo said as an afterthought, remembering the blade strapped to his back.

The boy looked up at him curiously. "Have you killed a lot of hollows, Captain?" before he could respond an older child replied for him, scoffing slightly.

"Of course he has, he defeated the evil Aizen!" Ichigo smirked proudly at that and thought back to the fight. It really had been an epic one.

"Was he a hollow?" One of the younger ones asked and Ichigo grimaced slightly, he didn't want to have to explain the complexities of the fight to children. Rukia saw his indecision and stepped in for him, having more experience with children.

"No, Aizen was a bad shinigami. Luckily he was caught and defeated before he could complete his plan. It was thanks to Ichigo and the other Captains of the Gotei 13 that he was defeated and captured."

The children looked up at Ichigo with awe and he flushed slightly, looking away. Rukia just smirked at him; she knew that being complimented made him slightly uncomfortable.

"I just did what I could, is that the main area we are coming up to now?" Ichigo asked, quickly changing the subject to avoid further embarrassment.

The children looked towards it and the small girl next to his ear spoke up in response. "Yup, that is where most of the souls in this district live." Nel continued to glare at her, then nudged Ichigo slightly, drawing his attention to her.

"Nel felt something weird a moment ago, did Itsigo feel it?" Ichigo frowned and shook his head gently, looking over to Rukia.

"I didn't feel anything either, but we are ready if something does show up." Ichigo nodded and stopped as they arrived at a cross roads.

"What way?" All of the children (including Nel) pointed in separate directions and Ichigo and Rukia sweat dropped.

"This way, you can see Gran!" Ichigo decided to follow Teru, who had been the most outspoken of the children. All of them looked to be between 7 and 12 but Ichigo wondered how old they really were.

Rukia smiled as she looked around. It was nice for her to be back in such simple surroundings, with trees not that far away and small dirt roads instead of the large white slabs of the Seireitei. It reminded her of her time in Rukongai; though much of it had been hard there were precious times within the rough.

Ichigo noticed her look but said nothing, presuming that she was thinking about her time in Rukongai. 'If she wants to talk about it she will.'

Unfortunately that was not everyone's view and one of the children had noticed her spaced-out state. "What's wrong, Ms. Lieutenant?"

Rukia blinked out of her daze and looked down at the child smiling slightly. "Please, Rukia. I was just thinking about when I grew up in Rukongai."

The girls eyes widened. "You grew up in Rukongai?" Rukia just smirked back in response.

"Yes, I lived in the 78th south district: Inuzuri before I became a shinigami with my friend." The children all turned to look at Rukia in awe now and she looked at Ichigo, a bit taken-aback by their stares.

Ichigo just smirked at her and continued to walk, leaving her to their questions like they had to him. "Wow, and are you a powerful shinigami?"

Rukia hesitated and didn't respond. After all this time she wasn't able to say yes, even with Sode no Shirayuki whispering support in her ear she couldn't admit it. Just like always she doubted herself, but this time someone answered for her.

"Of course she is, I wouldn't have made her my Lieutenant if she was weak." Ichigo didn't look at her as he spoke, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

He missed her eyes that lingered on him for a moment, first some surprise going through them and then gratefulness filling them. If there was one person whose opinion she valued, it was his. '_Oh right, your just friends_.' Sode no Shirayuki spoke up, getting an angry response from Rukia.

'_Quiet you, we...we are...aren't we_?' She responded, unsure of her answer. Memories flooded back to her, ending in their little exchange when he had returned.

'_You cut your hair when he was missing did you not?_' Rukia nodded mentally, hoping that Sode no Shirayuki wasn't going where she thought she was.

'_What of it, I was distressed that I had lost my...my friend_.' The Zanpakuto chuckled musically and reminded Rukia that she couldn't hide anything from her now.

'_Please Rukia, don't insult me. I am well aware of the tradition amongst old Samurai families to cut ones hair when either parted from a loved one, or their heart was broken_.' Rukia blushed furiously. She could remember making the decision on the first day of his 'death'. For some reason she had remembered that old tradition from her lessons in noble family history when she was being taught by the Kuchiki educators.

'_I-I...I don't know what you mean, I was merely expressing my grief, I'm not sure why I did it like that._' She just heard more soft laughter from her Zanpakuto and tried to tune it out, not paying attention to where she was going.

Predictably, she hit something. Not just anything though, something hard, black and...moving. Rukia looked up as she took a step backwards and saw Ichigo looking down at her strangely.

"Rukia? What's up you didn't answer?" Rukia pushed off him slightly, all too aware of their proximity and glared at him to cover her blush.

"I was thinking you tactless idiot, why did you stop in front of me?" Ichigo rolled his eyes before he moved his head closer to hers, causing her to pull back slightly again.

"Are you sure? You're cheeks look all red, maybe you are tired since this is a long walk and you have really short leg-" She stopped him by punching him swiftly in the face and walking around him, fuming.

"Dammit!" Ichigo shouted out, rubbing his jaw in irritation. A few of the children gathered beneath him, looking with interest at the scene.

"Is she allowed to do that to you Captain?" Teru asked curiously and Ichigo just scowled and looked after her, muttering under his breath, tuning out the children as they spoke amongst themselves.

"Of course she can, she's his wife!"

"I thought she was his Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, but didn't you see them. They are clearly together, so she is allowed too!" The raising of the girls voice brought him out of his angry and worried thoughts.

"What are you shouting about? Never mind, let's just get going, Rukia!" He turned away from the children, having ignored their previous conversation and called out to the small woman who was now looking curiously down one of the streets.

She snapped round her head in irritation. "What is it, Strawberry!" Ichigo huffed in irritation and jerked his thumb in another direction.

"Teru says we're going this way midget so stop being nosy." It was Rukia's turn to huff and she walked up to him, the two falling into step with each other as they followed Teru.

"I was not being nosy. I was merely curious as to how their living conditions were for our mission." Ichigo scoffed and poked her gently as he looked at her.

"Yeah right, and you were never nosy in the world of the living either!" Rukia bristled with indignation and glared at him, hands on her hips.

"I was not! The living world was a new experience for me so naturally I was curious you fool!" Ichigo just waved her off and started walking away.

"Sure, and I'm-" He didn't finish his response as he felt a hollow appear and he snapped his head around to Rukia.

"Hollow, can you look after them?" He motioned to the children and Rukia nodded, looking at Nel.

"Of course, what about you Nel?" Nel shook her head vigorously.

"Nel's staying with Itsigo!" Rukia frowned but didn't press the matter, instead taking the child off Ichigo's other shoulder, who pouted.

"Aww, why can't we go with Captain?" Rukia sighed then smiled at the children.

"Fighting a hollow is dangerous, and Nel is special. Nel won't be in danger from a hollow, she can be very powerful if she needs to be...but maybe Ichigo will be able to give you a treat?" Ichigo looked at Rukia curiously, itching to go and fight the hollow that Nel had undoubtedly felt passing through the dangai before they could sense it.

"Make sure they can see you kill it, Ichigo." Ichigo looked back at her in surprise, about to argue that they should be nowhere near the hollow. But the look in her eyes stopped him and he finally grasped her point.

She wanted them to see what they did, what shinigami did. Love for shinigami was split in Rukongai, some liking and some disliking them, if the children could see how they could be helpful...it could make all the difference.

Nodding, Ichigo flash-stepped away to the amazement of the children who stood around Rukia.

"Stupid hollows, even here..." Ichigo mumbled as he got closer to the weak hollow, sighing slightly as he figured that he wouldn't even need to release to take care of it.

Arriving quickly he saw the humanoid hollow. It was a big one, but a slow one, lumbering out of the Rukongai forest and announcing its arrival with a howl. Ichigo sighed; it was too far away here so he would need to move the thing to give the kids their show.

"Oi, you!" Ichigo shouted out as he landed, the large hollow looking down at him with hungry eyes.

"Ahh, a shinigami! You will be delicious..." Ichigo scowled, pulling out Zangetsu and resting it on his shoulder.

"Just my luck you would be a talker, if **you're** that smart you should know you don't have a chance. Anyway, I'm afraid we need to move this fight or I'll get abused by my Lieutenant." The hollow just gave a distorted laugh and raised its fist to slam into Ichigo.

"You won't be alive that long, shinigami!" Ichigo had time to roll his eyes as thehollow's fist tore towards him and held out one hand to block the blow, not bothering to use Zangetsu for such a weak hollow.

"W-what!" The hollow shouted out then moved back slightly, howling with rage.

Ichigo just jumped up, flash-stepping behind the hollow and grabbing the back of one of its arms. "I don't believe I gave you a choice."

Then he pushed off, pulling the hollow with him, screaming, as Ichigo rocketed towards Rukia's presence. He frowned slightly, he still didn't like the idea, but Rukia was right. They were going to be here for a few weeks at most before they moved on; they best make shinigami appear as good as they could, as quickly as they could.

Reaching his destination he threw down the hollow. It landed in a dirt field before Rukia and the children. Looking up its eyes grew hungry at the sight of all the souls with apparently only a small woman guarding them.

"Ah, you will be tastey!" it shouted, pushing itself up as the children huddled behind Rukia. Ichigo dropped down in front of them as it took a step forward, holding his blade out in his right hand.

"You won't be eating anyone. I don't need to be fully recovered to stop the likes of you." The hollow laughed loudly and then roared.

"You damn shinigami, you think because you got lucky and you were a silly white coat you can defeat a hollow like me!" Ichigo smirked at the hollows arrogance and remembered Rukia's word to him before she changed his life.

"It's not shinigami. I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain of the fifth squad!" Then the children watched as his image flickered before them and his blade was suddenly wet with blood.

Rukia had seen him flash-step and slice of the hollows arm in one step, before kicking off the air and landing in the same place, but the children only saw his image flicker and the hollow scream out in pain.

Ichigo flicked the blood of his blade, smirking back at the hollow. "As I was saying, you hollows never learn, you should leave these souls in peace." With that he turned around and smiled at the children with his back to the hollow.

"Don't worry guys, I bet even you could kill small-fry like this." The hollow roared at the taunt and swung at Ichigo. The children shouted out as they saw the attack coming and Rukia glared at Ichigo, wanting to hit him for choosing this moment to have one of his few arrogant moments.

Ichigo turned his head at the last moment, swinging Zangetsu up in a wide arc across the hollow. The blade sliced straight up the hollow, and the mask exploded under the force, the hollow fading soon after.

Lowering his blade Ichigo flicked the blood off again before he sheathed it and smirked at the children. "And that's what shinigami do-"

His head snapped back as a rock hit his head. Hard. Ichigo twitched slightly then fell to the floor, grasping his head in pain as Rukia stepped up to him glaring.

"Midget, what the hell? Isn't that what you wanted?" Rukia continued to glare at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes but you were not supposed to teach them bad habits you fool! No matter how weak your enemy is you should never turn your back on it, and you are the last person I expected to waste breath taunting your enemy!" Ichigo glared back at her but couldn't fault her. He had acted out of character to try and put on a show for the kids, but she was right. It would only teach them bad habits and get them killed if they tried to copy him.

Sighing he got up and continued to rub his head, turning to the kids. "My Lieutenant is kinda right, the things I did were for your benefit but if you do become a shinigami then never try that stuff. You should always try and finish of an enemy as quickly as possible. Also respect your enemy, less so for hollow, but for anyone else remember that you are both in the same position, you fight for your life. Don't waste time on taunts...unless they start it." He added the end as an afterthought, ignoring Rukia's glare.

Ichigo looked back to Nel...only to find her asleep on his shoulder. He smiled softly at her, amazed she could sleep through that, then turned back to the children.

"C'mon then, let's get moving Teru, stuff to do right?" Teru nodded excitedly and led them off again, heading to (Ichigo assumed) 'gran' as he had called her.

As they walked off Ichigo leaned closer to Rukia and asked her question softly. "You're more violent than usual midget, something eating at you?"

Rukia shook her head and smiled back at him softly. She would never tell him that he was the problem plaguing her mind at the moment, she would keep that secret for as long as she could.

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><p><em>Beta'd by <em>_.lyingtonguesareclumsy. _

(A/N) A longer chapter for you :P well medium length for me I suppose, or medium-long. Thanks again to my new beta, they have been a big help xD The views of children are the most innocent, and so, so often are correct :P

If you haven't read Bleach 469 you should go and do it now, otherwise you are missing out on Rukia cuteness and that is a sin against Kubo :) just saying.

Also, thanks to **Mugetsu**on the Bleach Asylum IchiRuki forum for the information about the Samurai family hair thing. They posted it and I decided that it sounded pretty symbolic, so in it went. If you haven't been over to the forum then go now :) Vent Your IchiRuki love over there!

Thanks for the reviews as always! And sorry I couldn't reply to the anonymous ones : The next chapter should be out in normal time, but I am still working on 27, trying to make it long enough and such. .

I'll get it done though, don't worry! Also, you will enjoy the next chapter, just thought I'd mention that :P Now if you weren't already hooked, you are now xD


	24. A Shinigami's work is never done

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

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><p>"Hey gran, we brought the shinigami!" Teru shouted out at the run-down house. Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other for a second before they heard the response.<p>

"Just a minute." They heard some banging around inside the house and took the time to look at it.

The house was slanted to one side, with the wood splintering wherever you looked. It appeared to only have one level and didn't look very big, since it was squished between two other houses in a similar state. Ichigo edged over to Rukia, leaning down to whisper to her.

"Are all the houses in this bad a shape?" Rukia frowned slightly and shook her head.

"It may look bad on the outside, but most of them are stable enough. The inside will have what they need to survive; it'smore than what we had in the 78th. We just had a cave really." Ichigo stood straight and his scowl deepenedslightly.

Rukia noticed and poked him in the side. "What was that for midget?" Ichigo grumbled back, rubbing his, still sensitive, side.

"Get that look off your face, I survived and these people will too. We can't try and turn this place into the Seireitei, we are here to do as much as we can, but we can't do everything." Ichigo huffed and turned his head away slightly.

She was right of course. She was usually right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Nel glared slightly at Rukia and switched to Ichigo's right shoulder to be close to her.

"Don't make Itsigo angry Wukia, or Nel will take back what she said before." Before Rukia could ask what she meant the old door slid open, revealing an equally as old looking woman.

"Ah, now what did you want Teru?" She smiled down at the small boy, who grinned back and pointed to the two shinigami.

"We brought the shinigami!" The old lady looked up in surprise and saw the two dressed in black before her.

"Shinigami? What are you doing back here, I remember you pulling out all those years ago." The voice held no malice and Ichigo stepped forward slightly to respond.

"We are back to clean up this area, and hopefully all of Rukongai." The old lady nodded and looked between the three noticing the white haori and the insignia.

"So whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki the Captain of squad five, and this is Rukia Kuchiki, my Lieutenant." Rukia bowed slightly and the old woman smiled at both of them before turning her gaze to Nel.

"And who is this?" Nel pushed her self forward on Ichigo's shoulder and looked at the woman curiously.

"Nel is Itsigo's girl!" The woman laughed at the child's innocence and turned to the slightly blushing father.

"You have quite the cute girl, especially with that little hood." Ichigo smiled back but worried inwardly. Very few people knew that Nel was an Arrancar, and he preferredto keep it that way for as long as possible.

"Yeah, I 'spose. I adopted Nel earlier this week actually." Gran widened her eyes slightly as she looked between them.

"Well you are very close for having been together so little." Ichigo shrugged and Nel grinned.

"We've been through a lot before that." The woman nodded, then gave Nel another quick look.

"Is she a shinigami too? I've heard that you have some really young ones now." Ichigo shook his head and Nel pouted slightly, looking at him.

"Nah, Nel got them from a friend and they fit her." He turned to Rukia slightly. "Could she be a shinigami, Rukia?"

Rukia thought about it before answering. She had both shinigami powers and hollow ones, but she couldn't control them, or at least it seemed like she couldn't.

"I'm not sure, you would have to ask the Captain-Commander or Urahara about something like that." The old lady chuckled slightly, drawing their attention back to her.

"And here I was thinking it should be the Lieutenant asking the Captain things." Ichigo scowled and crossed his arms as Rukia smirked smugly and gestured a thumb towards him.

"I wouldn't like to think what would happen if I wasn't here to keep him in line." However, Ichigo was quick to retort.

"That's just because you've been around longer midget, give me another fifty years and I'll know just as much as you." Rukia just waved a hand in dismissal.

"Sure you will. Do tell me when that is, because I'll be able to stop fixing your messes then." Ichigo glared at her and pushed his head closer to hers.

"Fine, you tell me when I can stop cleaning up the Soul-Society's messes!" Rukia glared back, puking him in the chest in irritation.

"You make just as much mess! We lost an entire wing of our barracks because of _your _damn training." Ichigo moved closer and raised his voice in anger.

"You are my Lieutenant and I don't hear you giving me any suggestions!" They continued to glare at each other, only inches between their faces until a chuckle brought them both out of it.

"My, my, you young people really are...passionate, but I can see a visitor approaching." Both looked at the woman blankly then turned to see Nori and Haru coming towards them.

Haru was the first to speak, noticing their proximity. "What are you two doing, can't you see the kids?"

Both of them looked down in surprise then away guiltily. It was true, both had forgotten about anything else other than the annoying midget/strawberry that was currently before them. Rukia also took a step back, noticing their proximity was a _little _too close.

"Can you take these two around for the rest of the tour they are getting? I'll take care of the children." Teru pouted, looking up at Ichigo.

"But I want to stay with the Captain!" Ichigo smirked slightly and crouched down beside him, resting a hand on his head.

"I'll be around for a few more weeks, kid. Who knows, maybe I'll even see you in the Seireitei if you end up as a shinigami." The boy nodded enthusiastically and grinned up at Rukia.

"Okay, we'll see you and your wife soon!" Gran chuckled and quickly got the children inside, sliding the door shut behind and leaving a dumbfounded Ichigo and Rukia behind them.

Ichigo was the first to break out of the trance, spluttering and red faced he shouted at the house. "W-we're not like that dammit!"

Rukia just blushed heavily and focused her attention on ignoring the red-faced man besides her. Instead she turned to Nori who was looking between them.

"Shall we go then?" Rukia questioned, ploughingon despite her irritation and embarrassment.

Nori nodded then looked at the, still spluttering, Ichigo. "What about Ichigo."

Rukia rolled her eyes and whacked the back of Ichigo's head. "Let's go Ichigo, stop fooling around." Ichigo blinked in surprise before he rubbed the back of his head ruefully, glaring at Rukia.

"Yeah, yeah. Stop being so violent, midget." Rukia glared back at him for a moment before walking off towards Nori.

The girl looked between them again before deciding to go with the scarierlooking one. "Uhm, if you will follow me then Lieutenant Kuchiki I will show you the rest of the district."

The two walked off and left Ichigo to watch them in surprise. After a few moments he blinked and ran off after them, haori swinging back and forth until he caught up to them, scowling.

"You could have waited up; Idon't wear this haori for nothing." Nori smiled sheepishly and looked at him.

"Sorry, but she is...uhm...persuasive?" Ichigo sighed and looked over at Rukia's undeniably smug face.

"Yeah, she is that." Rukia looked slightly surprised by that, butdidn't say anything as they walked down the street.

Haru walked slightly ahead of them, looking bored as they passed down the dirty and run-down houses. People were gathered outside a few of them, some looked scared at the sight of a Captain walking down the street, and others angry**. **A few even outright glared at him, scowling deeply as he walked by.

It was one of these that stood up, his scowl deeper than the rest. A few others circled behind him,cutting off the path and stopping the group from advancing. Ichigo saw a flash of black hair shoot down an ally before it was hidden by the dust of the movement. He cursed mentally, that was the second time he had seen something familiar here, was it some spirit he had konso'd?

His attention was brought back as Haru stepped before him.

He rolled his eyes and tilted his towards them. "What'sa matter? Don't tell me we have to pay to get through here again."

The man just growled at him and looked at Ichigo. "You, what are you doing here?" Ichigo glared back, his hand already itching for Zangetsu.

The man was about the same height as Ichigo, but more muscular, his body more bulked out that Ichigo's lean frame. Long brown hair was tied back and his face had a scowl etched into it that rivalledIchigo's, his eyes looking older than his body.

"We're having a nice tour of the district thanks." He responded sarcastically, causing Rukia to mentally roll her eyes. They wanted to _avoid _confrontation with the locals.

The man didn't laugh, instead taking a step forwardand pointing at Ichigo. "Don't play games because you think you are above us _Captain_. We may just be normal souls, but I've seen what kind of things you shinigami do out here. Now I'll ask you again, what are you doing here**?**"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he looked to Rukia, who was looking at him with a similar expression. "What are you talking about? The only shinigami this far out should be slaying hollows." Rukia responded, frowning.

A few men in the group gave dark chuckles and the leader snorted. "Yeah right, you can't fool us shinigami. You just happen to be here with two young looking girls, one barely a child? Even a Captain can't do what he likes in the Seireitei it seems; well,you're not the first to do things out of sight of the rest of them."

Ichigo's eyes widened in horror as he got what he was implying and looked between Rukia and Nel for a moment before stepping towards the man. "What the _hell _are you talking about! I'm here with my Lieutenant and my adopted daughter to clean up this district, hell my entire squad is spread out over the 60-80th."

The man narrowed his eyes suspiciously, clearly not believing him. "Like the Seireitei would ever care about us again. You're with that other lot, aren't you? Sinceyou're a Captain, youprobably lead them." There were growls of dissent around him and Ichigo noticed that they were all glaring at him with hate in their eyes.

Rukia noticed too and stepped closer to Ichigo. "Ichigo, look at them." He grimaced back and nodded slightly.

"I know, what's going on here?" Turning slightly he looked at Haru and Nori who were standing aside, watching the confrontation. "Do you guys know what this is-"

He was cut off by a fist hitting him, snapping his face to one side. Rukia's eyes flashed dangerously and she flashed forwards, knocking the mad who had run out from behind the leader down.

He just chuckled, gurgling blood slightly as he did so. "You Captainsaren't that tough are ya!" A few of the others laughed mockingly at Ichigo who looked back at them, almost bored.

"Don't do that again, I don't want this to get ugly. Just tell me what is going on, who are these other shinigami?" The leader looked at him critically again, his group still glaring at Ichigo and Rukia.

"Before I do, you tell me. Who are you?" Ichigo unconsciously stood a bit straighter.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain of squad five." The man raised his eyebrows slightly then looked to Rukia who mimicked Ichigo.

"Rukia Kuchiki, Lieutenant of squad five." He nodded and finally his eyes settled on Nel, who shy'd away slightly but responded.

"Nel is Itsigo's daughter." The man nodded and then turned his eyes back to Ichigo. They softened ever so slightly as he looked at him.

"So you are Ichigo? I have heard about you of course." Ichigo flushed slightly at this, he still wasn't used to being this well known. "And now that I know who you are I am...less suspicious of you. But that doesn't change the facts, come back here in a week and at 7 o'clock to see what I mean. Then we will see if you are what you say you are."

Just like that, the conversation was over and the men all turned to leave. Ichigo shouted out to them but to no avail, they disappeared down an alley and he lost sight of them, cursing slightly he walked back to where Haru and Rukia were talking.

"...you know who they are then?" Haru frowned slightly and rubbed his hand on his arm.

"Not really, Nori and I live on the edge of the district. But I've seen them around before when I have come in here and from what I've picked up they really don't like shinigami." Ichigo sighed as he walked up next to Rukia.

"That's just great. They better have a good explanation for being so hostile." Looking at Rukia he noticed that she was in thoughtand leant a little close to her. "Yo, Rukia. You got any ideas?"

Rukia snapped out of her thoughts and frowned slightly. "I don't know. They seemed very hostile, even more so than I would expect from and of the people of Rukongai." Ichigo scowled and looked up at the blue, clouded sky.

"Well let's hope we can change their view with all the stuff we're doing for them." Rukia nodded her head in agreement then looked seriously at Ichigo.

"Listen Ichigo, about what they said..." She trailed off slightly, looking for the right words. Ichigo listened and watched her struggled before she surprised him by looking back up with angry eyes. "Not all shinigami are good Ichigo, you know this of course what with all that Aizen caused. But that is at the very top of the scale. Shinigami are still just people and whilst you have been lucky with those you know it pains me to admit that the ranks of the Seireitei are far from as pure as the name suggests."

Ichigo frowned back at her, nodding and understanding the fire in her eyes. She was telling him about the ones who tarnished the shinigami name: the overly-arrogant, the greedy, the corrupt and the downright twisted could all get into the ranks of the Gotei 13 with time in the academy. Even before Ichigo was a shinigami he had hated these kindsof people and now he was a Captain, a symbol of the shinigami. He hated them all the more for abusing the power of a shinigami, the power to protect.

"I know Rukia and if there are any here..." He clenched his fists and Rukia felt his reiatsu thicken around him. "...We'll stop them."

She smiled at him softly and turned to Haru and Nori. "Sorry about that, shall we continue?"

Nori was about to respond but Haru interrupted her, grabbing Nel of Ichigo's shoulder and taking Nori's hand in his. He shouted out his response as he dragged the two girls away.

"Nah, you can do what you want I've got stuff to do with Nori and Nel. See ya!" Ichigo blinked in surprise before he shouted out after them, Rukia watching him blankly.

"Hey! Come back with Nel!" Before he could run off after them Rukia walked up besidehim, looking in the direction the others disappeared in.

"Don't worry about it Ichigo, they are good people. I'm sure they just wanted to show her something childish." Ichigo smirked back at Rukia.

"So why didn't they take you?" Rukia scowled and stamped on his foot as she turned around, stalking away from him. Ichigo yelped in pain but ran after her, frowning slightly as he caught up.

"Don't run off on your own, we've seen what this place is like." Rukia glared back at him, huffing slightly.

"I don't need to be protected Ichigo, I am capable of fending off a few thugs. Unlike you." Ichigo scowled and looked at her for a second, his eyes growing softer. He looked away, murmuring under his breath.

"I never said you couldn't." Rukia's own anger faltered at that and she glanced up at the Captain. He had a knack for saying things without any tact, despite how good his intentions were. '_Stupid, strawberry' _She thought affectionately, smiling to herself when the memories of his lack of tact came rushing through her head.

Ichigo noticed her soft smile and smiled himself. Rukia didn't smile that much, she was like him in that way. You save your smile for those who are truly close to you, those who deserve it. So if he got a glimpse of it then it was worth it, anything was worth it.

They walked in a comfortable silence, Ichigo stealing glances at Rukia's vacant, yet happy, expression. This was only broken when they came to the end of the town, the buildings becoming more and more dilapidated as they got further out.

Rukia blinked out her daze and looked around, slightly embarrassed. She had been thinking about so much, so many memories. Her life in Rukongai, her friends, her old mentor...her Ichigo. She blushed slightly then looked around, noticing how far out they were.

She was about to ask Ichigo how long they had been walking when she looked up at him, but instead her breath was taken away.

Ichigo was walking slowly besides her, looking more at peace than she had ever seen him. His face was lit by a soft orange glow that illuminated his features. They were so relaxed: his permanently-furrowed brow was almost gone; hisscowl all but fadedfrom his lips, an unnoticeable smile was ghosting across them instead.

His eyes. They were lit by the same glow as his face and looked like pools of amber water, reflecting his emotions perfectly. He was at peace.

Rukia didn't notice that they had stopped walking, she called out his name softly, almost afraid to break him from his relaxed state. As if the mirror would break and his soul would retreat back inside him. Sode no Shirayuki's words echoed softly in her mind, giving her strength. '_Don't let him go.'_

"...Ichigo."

He turned to her and she watched hesitantly. He did not break, he did not retreat. He smiled. A warm smile, bearing his soul without hesitation to her, there was barely a breath between them. Nothing between her curious, hesitant eyes and his warm ones. Looking off into the distance he began to speak softly, his eyes glazed over with memories.

"You know I never really liked the sunset. It was just there. To me it was like the sun was leaving, leaving us to the night." Rukia dimly realized that that was the orange glow and turned to watch the sun as it highlighted the sky. Giving them a treat before night took over. She heard Ichigo speak and turned back to him, captured by his soft voice.

"My mother always loved them. We would watch it sometimes when I was coming home from karate and she would always tell me how beautiful it was. How we were lucky to be able so have something so amazing for free every day. I never really got where she was coming from to be honest...maybe I do now, though." He turned to her and looked into her eyes, into her soul.

He couldn't help but stare. She looked so innocent and pure in the golden light. Her face was burning with it and he could see soft patches of red on her cheeks that made his heart cry out for her. Her eyes were wide and beautiful in her face, violet pools to match his amber. Everything else was just a distraction from this, what was life without this? He had experience that, he had lived without it. And it killed him.

Without breaking his eyes from hers he lifted a hand and gently touched her hair, feeling the soft strands tickle his fingers. "Now I can see it as she saw it. The sun's last gift as it hands over to the moon, to be enjoyed with those closest to you. And then the night comes and the moon shines out all the brighter in the dark. Sometimes the moon watchesas the sun goes down, bidding it farewell for now. After all, Rukia..." Her eyes glistened with unreadable emotions as he said her name softly, savouring every syllable.

Ichigo could feel his heart pounding in his chest; he didn't know where this sudden bust of confidence had come from, but he was taking full advantage of it. Even if part of him was screaming at him to shut up and fall back into the close friendship they had he pushed it away, he had to take this chance now. If they way he was going to do that was to keep spouting romantic lines they he would just to keep his mind working. When he looked down at her she was all that dominated his thought and he moved his mouth without thinking.

"What is the sun without the moon?" For some reason Rukia turned to the east and she saw it, watching and glowing in the fading light. The moon, full and pure was hanging in the sky, together with the sun for its final breath.

Ichigo followed her gaze and smiled softly. "It doesn't matter how little time they get together, for them it is an eternity." Rukia looked back at Ichigo, her eyes full of unspoken words, things left unsaid and pushed away.

Ever so slowly they drew together. Everso gently they touched the other. Like the sun and the moon they had been chasing one another without knowing it, always getting closer without feeling it. Now on opposite sides the sun dropped down and the moon rose up, a month, a day, a year had passed alone.

The collision was imminent.

Their lips met under the glow of the two spheres, white light on one side and golden on the other. Ichigo cupped her face gently as he bent for his moon and Rukia pulled him closer as she reached for her sun. Lips were connected like a lifeline, tentative at first, butonce the link was sealed, everything came through it.

Emotion seared around them as they held on to one another, just soft lips and soft hands to say everything that had been left unsaid.

A few moments later they parted, slightly breathless and both with red cheeks. They looked at each other and smiled shyly, Rukia looking away first and Ichigo rubbing his head nervously. '_Did she like it, did I do well?' _He didn't know. Hecould only hope and ignore the cackling hollow who had chosen this time to speak up.

Rukia meanwhile was ignoring a certain sword who was either acting all-knowing or gushing over the kiss; shecouldn't tell. Her mind was too frazzled to pick left from right at the moment, glancing up at Ichigo she saw him looking away nervously and figures she should say something. Without thinking she fell back into the most natural thing she could. Teasing him.

"Haru was right, you really are a romantic." She said quietly, noticing Ichigo look back at her with a confused expression.

Ichigo didn't know what to say, that was good right? Girls liked romance. Before he could think he almost slapped himself as a much more cheesy line than intended came out, no matter howtrue it was.

"Only for you." Rukia blushed slightly then smiled up at him, the blush making her appear all the cuter in the soft light.

"I should hope so, Ichigo." Ichigo didn't respond as he processed the words. '_She hopes so...she hopes so she feels the same!'_If the kiss wasn't confirmation, this was and he grinned back at her, taking a step closer and pulling her towards him gently.

Rukia smiled up at him and fell into his arms, letting his scent smother her and his muscles warm her as they stood alone at the edge of the town. A Captain and his Lieutenant, two friends and two lovers in the dark.

* * *

><p>Urahara squealed to himself as he watched the two. Yoruichi was grinning widely by his side, both of them staring at the screen showing the young shinigami. Looking over at Urahara she tilted her head towards him.<p>

"Nice job on the bugs, Kisuke." Urahara tipped his hat towards her in appreciation.

"Well, Mayuri does have a good idea every now and then, even if I had to change it a bit to get complete coverage." Reaching over he pulled out a disc, fanning his face with it slightly.

"Now what?" Yoruichi asked, stretching out like a cat her mind already coming up with ways to play with this new information.

"Well I think Isshin has called dibs on it first and then..." His grin grew under his hat and he looked at her."...Well my kitty, I'm sure we can find some way to entertain ourselves."

The two grinned together at the sweet scene frozen on the screen. Oh yes, they would have fun.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtonguesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) FINALLY, they've kissed :P I hope you like it, I did think about it a lot and some of you may think it is a bit sappy for Ichigo. Here's my reasoning: Ichigo likes Shakespeare, and that could give him the ability easily to make up something romantic xD He might have got it out, but it's all in the heat of the moment really, rather than him having thought it out, it also avoids him saying any actual feelings if it's all in metaphor :P

Hope you didn't find it to bad xD I can't say much about the kiss tbh, no experience there so I could only really draw of other fic's etc -.- Meh seems fine. I'm very happy at the reviews! Glad to see you are all liking the story, the plots going to ramp up a bit from here :P

One point is that someone said that Ichigo adopting Nel is a bit OOC. I disagree because he wants to protect, that's his nature, and this is the best way he knows of doing it. Plus, Nel isn't a normal child so doesn't need the protection a normal one does, or at least not as much xD

Once again thanks for the reviews, I do reply to all of them! Apart from people who aren't signed in D: Now I really must finish of chapter 28 to keep ahead, I've been lazy and working on my MCM cosplay :P See you later, sorry about the massive authors notes xD


	25. Leaves of corruption

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Rukia shifted slightly, feeling something hard and warm encircling her. Frowning she tried to get more of the warmth, pulling at the fabric greedily. It budged slightly and Rukia smiled slightly as the warm surface pulled her closer.

'_Wait, inanimate things don't...move?'_Rukia opened her eyes in shock and pulled back slightly, looking down at the warm object in disbelief.

Beneath her was a, very much alive, Ichigo. Images of the last time she had seen him flashed through her mind, his face so calm, so close. Blushing slightly she looked at Ichigo closer. He was sleeping, his face the same picture of peace it has been last night, eyelids closed and soft breaths following the rise and fall of his chest.

"Ichigo..." She breathed out without thinking, the only thought in her mind.

"Mmm, Rukia?" She started as she heard his soft voice, trying to pull back from his embrace and failing.

"Don't move, I'm comfy." Rukia sighed and relaxed into his arms with ease. It felt so natural and it wasn't the first time they had accidentally slept together to cower from the cold.

Looking up at his face, bathed in the morning light, she smiled. "Much as this is nice, we seem to be lying on the floor." Ichigo just grumbled in response, shifting slightly.

"Don't care, I'm comfy midget so stop squirming." Rukia rolled her eyes and pushed herself up from his chest, wide violet eyes looking down at him.

"Stop being lazy, you're a Captain." Ichigo finally opened his eyes to glare at her softly.

"As your Captain I order you to stop moving and enjoy the moment for once." Rukia fought back a smirk at his order and let her head fall down to his, foreheads only inches away.

"Stupid strawberry." Ichigo chuckled and rested his head against hers, his mind burning with her presence. '_Why has this taken so long?'_He wondered to himself. Truth be told, he didn't care at this precise moment, he was with her now.

They both froze as a loud chuckle interrupted the scene.

"Well, I didn't think you two would be so cozy so soon. I owe Nori a few coins." Simultaneously they scrambled to their feet, both blushing and fixing their cloths.

"Shut it, Haru." Ichigo barked following it with a scowl for good measure. Looking down he frowned at the state of his haori. It had grass stains and dirt littered over it from where he had been sleeping on the ground with Rukia.

"I hope you didn't do anything naughty now, there are some kids this far out." Ichigo and Rukia both blushed deeper and shouted out together.

"We didn't do anything like that!" Haru just chuckled again and cocked his head at the pair.

"Just teasin'. Though I am curious, does this mean Rukia's taken now?" Ichigo growled and stepped forwards, his reiatsu dipping menacingly.

"Don't even think about it." This only added fuel to the fire and Haru's grin widened.

"That's a definite yes! I hope you like possessive men Lieutenant." Rukia glared at both of them, first at Haru, then Ichigo.

"Don't let him taunt you so easily, Ichigo." Ichigo turned his scowl to her and pointed an accusing finger.

"You have no right to tell me not to be violent Rukia, my shins take at least one kick whenever you lose an argument." Rukia just dead-panned at his response.

"I didn't even say that, idiot." Casually ignoring her complaint, Ichigostarted stalking away from them, his scowl prominent.

"Whatever, let's just go and find Nori and Nel. I need this haori cleaned before someone sees me in it." With that he flash-stepped away, leaving only a trace of irritated reiatsu.

Haru turned to Rukia and smirked. "Your boyfriend sure is easy to irritate."

Rukia blushed at boyfriend, not having thought about it before. He was right wasn't he? She and Ichigo were in a...relationship. Her heart soared at the thought. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, was it love? She had felt love for Renji, and love for Kaien, but not this. That was comparing a best friend and a mentor to Ichigo. And nothing could compare to this feeling, she felt lighter than she ever had in her life.

Repeating it in her head, a soft smile broke out across her face. '_I am in a relationship with Ichigo'_. Just for a moment everything else could wait. She didn't know how long her heart had been waiting for this without her knowing, but it felt like an eternity.

Haru's loud voice broke her out of her daze. "Oi, Kuchiki. I know you're fantasizingabout your strawberry but I don't want to wait around all day." Ignoring the blush that dusted her cheeks she glared at him with cold eyes.

"I wasn't doing anything improper so I suggest you shut up and start walking." Now Haru would have loved to call her on that, he really would. But you don't argue with the Kuchiki glare unless you are brave or foolish so he just paled slightly and nodded.

'_Shinigami women sure are scary.'_

* * *

><p>Rukia wasn't the only one in a bit of a daze. Ichigo almost crashed through a few houses on his way back to the small hut in which the two siblings lived. Smacking his own head in irritation he slid on the grass as he landed, almost tripping.<p>

"Dammit." He grumbled, his head still not sure. His hollow was not helping, cackling and making perverted comments.

_**"You should have done it right there, King!"**_Ichigo scowled to himself and responded out-loud.

"Shut up you damn pervert!" His hollow scoffed and crossed his arms.

_**"Che, I don't get any respect for helping your pathetic ass."**_Ichigo growled in response, just in time for Nori to hear and look at him in surprise.

"Uhm, Captain Ichigo?" Ichigo turned around to see her looking at him with a confused expression.

"Oh, sorry, Nori. Is Nel here?" Nori nodded and motioned inside the house before she looked at him critically, squinting slightly.

"Is something wrong? You look a bit off and your haori is all dirty." Ichigo looked down at his dirty haori and blushed slightly. Without thinking he stuttered as he could only think about Rukia.

"Uh, I..well Rukia-I, she." Nori raised her eyebrows at the stuttering, blushing Captain and tried to piece together his words.

"You and Rukia...you did something!" A smile grew on her face as he looked away bashfully and she made a mental note to save the memory. She had a feeling that this was one of the few times she would see him so open.

"It's nothing, forget about it." Ichigo groaned out, trying desperately to escape the awkward situation he had landed himself in without thinking.

Nori giggled slightly and shook her head. "Nu-uh, this is a chance to see a Captain blush. So what did you do? You were out all night so..." She trailed off suggestively and Ichigo went redder than before.

"No, nothing like that! What **is**it with you two and your perverted minds." Nori shrugged and tilted her head slightly.

"Well now I know I can just ask my brother, thanks!" Ichigo groaned again and as if on cue Rukia flash-stepped onto the ground besides them.

"Ichigo you ass, I-" She was cut off by Nori pulling her into a hug and looked for help in Ichigo, only to find him looking away with a red-stained face.

"Oh I'm so happy you finally realised you should be together! Even my brother and I could tell when you arrived that you two belong together." Fighting back a blush she glared at Ichigo from the embrace, silently promising him a large degree of pain for this.

"Uh, thank you, do you mind if I talk to Ichigo a moment?" Her voice was sweet, too sweet. Ichigo gulped slightly, wondering what he had done to deserve this kind of punishment.

Nori blinked, slightly confused by her sweet tone but nodded. "S-sure, I'll go and get Nel ready." Nori quickly left, Rukia was scary when she was nice.

Rukia crossed her arms and glared at Ichigo, who stood tall, refusing to cower despite its unusual deadliness. "So Rukia-"

"I hope you have a good explanation for that." Rukia interrupted, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Ichigo just looked at her blankly. "For what, Nori hugging you?"

Rukia huffed and continued to glare at him. "No fool. I mean how she knew, it's barely been a day and you are already treating me like an item!"

Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise, not sure what to make of it. "What? No I'm not, it just came out because you are all that's on my mind right now! What kind of things are you talking about?"

Rukia's attitude reversed as she looked away bashfully, faltering to reveal her own ignorance concerningrelationships. "W-well Rangiku and the others complain about men just trying to get with them to show them off, I won't let that happen!"

Ichigo chuckled slightly at this and relaxed slightly. "So that's what this is about? Don't worry about what Rangiku says. How could you be an item when you are so loud and irritating, I would have thrown you out ages ago."

Rukia glared at him, but she couldn't hold it at his smile and slipped into one herself, walking up to him and looking deep into his eyes.

"So, we are...together now?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you on about? We are always together." Rukia frowned at how dense he was being, her voice getting a bit more irritated.

"No fool, I mean a couple." Ichigo rolled his eyes, surprising Rukia by grabbing her and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Of course we are. Stop doubting yourself, I'm not giving you another speech." Rukia smirked at that, pulling back from the embrace, her fears all but gone.

"That was a pretty sappy speech Ichigo, I didn't know you had it in you." Ichigo flushed slightly and looked away in embarrassment.

"Shut up, you better not be the one spreading that." Rukia grinned deviously and Ichigo mentally groaned, he hated that look. It always meant thingsended badly for him.

"But all the girls will want to know how the _great Captain Kurosaki _so romantically kissed me at sunset." Ichigo crossed his arms and grumbled.

"Now who'sthe trophy partner." Rukia frowned cutely at him.

"What are you talking about, trophies? Have you lost your mind because of me, strawberry?" Ichigo hid a grin at her innocent, confused expression. He loved how she knew so little about the world of the living so his terms would still trip her up every now and again.

"Forget it. Have fun telling them how you stood in silence in _awe _at my handsome face as well then." Rukia huffed, her cheeks tingeing pink.

"No I didn't, now shut up." Ichigo smirked at his victory, turning towards the door to see Nel and Nori coming out, the former rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Her face lit up as she saw Ichigo and she rushed up to him, grabbing onto his haori. "Itsigo! Nel missed you. You and Wukia were away all night, are you okay?"

Ichigo smiled and scooped Nel up in one hand. "Don't worry Nel, me and Rukia are just fine. There were just...a few things we had to deal with." Nel looked between him and Rukia and asked innocently.

"Is Wukia going to be my mummy?" Both paled slightly at the question, answering simultaneously.

"No." "Yes."

They looked at each other in shock and Nori giggled at the situation. Nel looked around in confusion, not sure who to listen to.

Ichigo was the first to speak, his eyebrows still raised slightly in surprise. "I thought you didn't want to spread this?"

Rukia shrugged, looking softly at Nel. "I don't really care about that Ichigo and Nel's not exactly the whole of the Seireitei. If we- since we are doing this...I should help all I can, right?"

Ichigo smiled at her, then looked down at Nel. "There you go then, Rukia will be your mummy I suppose." Nel seemed to consider it for a moment before she looked over at Rukia.

"Nel doesn't mind, as long as Nel is still Itsigo's girl too!" Ichigo chuckled and used his free hand to rub the hair above her indignant face.

"Don't worry Nel, you always will be." Rukia smiled at the interaction and Ichigo caught is as he looked up, Nel puller herself over to his shoulder.

Looking between them Ichigo dead-panned. "We are the most dysfunctional family. Me, short and shorter." Rukia put her hands on her hips in irritation.

"A Kuchiki is always ready, and I don't believe I'm technically a part of _your _family Ichigo." Ichigo scowled back and grumbled.

"Lucky, you don't have to deal with my dad." Rukia smirked back at him, arms falling off her hips.

"No, instead I have my Nii-sama, who taught me how to act properly." Ichigo looked at her as if she was crazy and shrugged.

"Suddenly I don't mind my family." Rukia glared at him.

"Hey, my brother is a good man!" Instead of Ichigo responding it was Nel who looked curiously at Rukia.

"You have a brother? Like Nel's?" Rukia nodded and saw a sad expression cross Nel's face.

Ichigo caught it too and frowned. "What's wrong Nel? Is it those guys?"

Nel nodded sadly and tears started to form in her eyes. "Nel lost them when they were eaten by a powerful hollow. They died to protect Nel, even though Nel could have transformed and saved them."

She started crying softly and Ichigo puller her round, embracing her against his chest and looked down at her sadly. "I'm sorry Nel, but if it makes you feel any better I've got sisters of my own. Maybe someday you will meet them, because I'm sure they would love you. I suppose they would be your adopted aunts."

Nel whipped her eyes on his shihakusho and looked up at him. "Really? Nel would like that. They would almost be like new sisters!" Ichigo smiled and rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Yeah, almost Nel." He looked up at Rukia, who smiled softly and placed a hand on his shoulder. Hiding a smirk he leant down and said in a carrying whisper. "Don't try that with Rukia's brother though, he's a bit mean."

Nel giggled and Rukia flushed, caught between anger and humour at the thought of the tiny Arrancar trying to hug her brother. A smirk twitched on her face but she scolded Ichigo as thoroughly as she could at that moment.

"Don't say things about Nii-sama Ichigo, or I might just pass them on to him." Ichigo paled slightly and frowned.

"How come Byakuya is allowed to insult me, but I can't insult him?" Rukia rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Because most of the things he says are true." Ichigo pouted and looked down at Nel's happy face.

"Rukia can be just as mean as her brother Nel." Said shinigami bristled slightly and glared at him.

"Don't tell her things like that!" Ichigo smirked back at her.

"Why not, after all it's the truth." Rukia growled at his response and felt like kicking the orange-haired Captain right there and then.

"You are supposed to be a responsible parent!" Ichigo glared back indignantly.

"Nel is my child and I can teach her what I like!" The wind was blown out of his sails by Nel's little voice.

"You shouldn't say mean things about Wukia, Itsigo, you're supposed to be nice to her." Rukia smirked triumphantly and Ichigo looked between the two sourly.

"Don't gang-up on me, I knew this was a bad idea." He grumbled. Rukia smirked back at him and shot Nel a quick wink, who grinned in response.

"Don't worry Itsigo, Nel still loves you!" She pulled herself up to hug his face, effectively stopping his anger.

Rukia dead-panned, realising that Nel had used the entire thing to get closer to Ichigo. '_Stupid girl, not as innocent as she looks' _Rukia heard a musical chuckle from Sode no Shirayuki.

'_My, my, Rukia. Could it be that you are feeling jealous of a child? I thought Kuchiki's always got what they wanted.'_Rukia flushed at the insult and huffed back a reply.

'_Quiet you. I'm sure you are well aware that she has, by Ichigo's admission, a curvy adult form. I __don't want her to get any ideas.'_The Zanpakuto just laughed at Rukia's behaviour.

'_Possessive are we? Here I thought he was the possessive one.'_Rukia mumbled a response under he breath.

"...Goes both ways." Ichigo heard her and looked around, Nel pouting at the loss of his attention and falling back onto his shoulder.

"You say something, Rukia?" Rukia paled slightly and shook her head.

"N-no, nothing. Should we get going for the day?" Ichigo shrugged off his haori and nodded, throwing it to Nori.

Nori caught it and looked back at him in confusion. "Why are you giving this to me?" Ichigo scowled and crossed his arms.

"It got dirty last night, I need it cleaned before I can wear it- not a word." he cut her off at her excited expression and she pouted, looking over to Rukia.

"Your boyfriend is such a buzz-kill Lieutenant Kuchiki." Rukia mock sighed in exasperation and looked over at him.

"I know, but his face always looks like that." The two women laughed at Ichigo's expense and Nel gave a few giggles despite trying to appear comforting to Ichigo, who was scowling and trying to ignore the laughter coming from them.

"Damn, this is almost as pathetic as Keigo." Ichigo grumbled, instantly wincing at the thought and his hollows howls of laughter at this humiliation.

'_Almost.'_

* * *

><p><em>~One week later~<em>

Ichigo and Rukia made their way towards the meeting area that they had been told about a week before. It was 6:50, so they had 10 minutes to spare, yet Rukia looked slightly on edge and Ichigo noticed.

"Relax will you? Your reiatsu is getting irritating." Rukia glared at him but knew what he was really saying. '_Relax, we are going to be fine'._

She did relax slightly, but didn't let him off without a response. "Well I'm _sorry _for being unsure about a dark meeting with strangers, Ichigo."

Ichigo rolled his eyes but neither did he miss the message. '_Be careful.'_

Figures stepped out around them and they stopped, looking around for the leader. He soon revealed himself as he stepped forward, his brown hair the first indication it was him.

"So you're here, and without the girl." Ichigo scowled back at him and put on a sarcastic tone.

"Well of course I was going to bring her to a meeting with some suspicions strangers that hate shinigami." The man scowled back, his eyes cold.

"Well aren't you the cocky one. I didn't think your reputation labelledyou as that." Ichigo waved a hand dismissively.

"Meh, you don't want to believe everything you hear. But I'm not being cocky, you're just asking stupid questions. Now why are we here?"He continued to glare at Ichigo but nodded his head in acceptance.

"Fine, you and your...," he shifted his eyes to Rukia then back, "_Lieutenant _are here to witness what you claim to have no knowledge of. We will see if that is true and if you are innocent in this as you say then you will put a stop to it." Ichigo frowned at the command but nodded.

"Sure, Rukia and I will take a look at whatever it is you want and if it's bad we'll stop it. If you'retrying to kill us or something then I'd advise to just go now." The man didn't smile and turned around, leading them without speaking.

Rukia frowned, not happy with the situation. "If we are to help you then you should at least tell us your name." She said indignantly, not wanting to be completely in the dark.

He hesitated in his steps before answering without looking. "My name is Katashi." He continued walking on and Ichigo and Rukia caught each-others eye, nodding slightly and following behind him.

They walked in silence, the two shinigami keeping an eye on the souls around them. It didn't take long for them to reach a house near the edge of the village and when it was twenty meters or so away the leader, Katashi, raise his hand to stop them.

"This is the place, do you recognise it?" Ichigo looked to Rukia who shook her head in confusion then looked back and shrugged.

"Nope, it looks like any other building here." Katashi glared at him slightly at what he thought was an insult. Turning back to the house his expression grew grim and even without reiatsu Ichigo could practically feel the hate emanating from the man.

"Well this is where it happens." Rukia looked up at him, still confused as to what this was about.

"What?" Katashi didn't look back as he responded.

"You'll see girl, they'll arrive soon." Rukia bristled at the insult but felt Ichigo's reiatsu weighing her down slightly. Looking at him she saw him shake his head, his own expression stoic. At this Rukia reigned back her anger, they were here to watch not make a scene...that could come later.

They sat in silence, shrouded in darkness and hidden by the foliage between them and the house. Rukia could feel an edge to Ichigo's reiatsu but didn't say anything, instead just extending her reiatsu slightly towards him. She saw him blink and look at her in surprise but his face shifted into a quick smile as he realised what was going on.

Rukia smiled back at him, it was nice to have another presence around you. Or rather it was nice for her to have Ichigo's reiatsu around her, so much so that she felt weird when she couldn't feel his reiatsu flaring away, no matter if he could seal he sword or not he still lacked much control over it and it was part of what made him so...poor at Kido.

Her thoughts vanished as she felt some other shinigami approaching, frowning slightly '_There shouldn't be anyone else out here aside from squad five and I don't recognise these signatures.'_There were around twenty of them, all moving together.

Rukia looked over to Ichigo to see what he thought but noticed that he hadn't changed his expression. '_His sensing skills still suck.'_She thought wryly and nudged him silently.

Ichigo looked down and she whispered to him. "About twenty shinigami are heading this way, none from squad five." Ichigo scowled, cursing his lack of ability in that area.

'_At least I have Rukia for that.'_He thought, and it was true he had her in every sense of the word now. Or at least they were in a romantic relationship, true enough they had only kissed once...twice, but they had been busy. It wasn't like their relationship could have changed all that much to be closer;it was little things, really, likebeing slightly closer than necessary to each other and looking at the other without fear of being seen as weird.

They would take it slow because they had the rest of their lives together.

His thoughts were pushed back by his sickened-sounding hollow._**'Yeah, yeah we get it you luuurveee her, now stop getting distracted and giving me these sissy thoughts!'**_Ichigo smirked at that, it was a good day when he could annoy his hollow.

He was right though, seconds later Ichigo saw the group of shinigami land and it looked like most of them were carrying something or another. Some a sack over their shoulder and some boxes or crates.

Ichigo frowned and looked at Rukia who wore the same expression. '_What are they doing out here and what is that stuff?'_They looked at Katashi whose expression was one of simmering anger at the sight.

They waited until the shinigami had entered the house and then Ichigo pulled something out of his shihakusho. Rukia looked at the black band with interest.

"What's that, Ichigo?" Ichigo trapped it around his arm and Rukia widened her eyes as she felt his reiatsu suddenly fall down to a fraction of what it usually was.

"It's a reiatsu hiding thing that Urahara made for me, he left it in my robe when I was recovering. I don't like to use it because it feels really weird and kinda uncomfortable, but they might notice me if I leave it unchecked for this. "

"For what?" Ichigo smirked and stood up, all eyes on him.

"What else? I'm gonna go see what they are up to, you coming?" Rukia smirked back and stood, suppressing her reiatsu.

"Of course, you're not the stealthy type." Ichigo rolled his eyes and the two flash-stepped away, their speed not restrained by the suppression of their reiatsu.

Both arrived at the side of the house and crouched next to it, near an open window. Ichigo looked at Rukia and they wordlessly agreed: he would check first. Ichigo's eyes narrowed before he even moved, muffled shouts were already audible...and they didn't sound male.

Raising his head he prayed his hair wouldn't give him away and shifted his head besides the window. After a few more seconds of listening to the muffled shouts, accompanied by laughter, he risked looking through the window, shifting his head ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

He almost wished he hadn't.

Rukia saw his expression shift rapidly: shock, horror, hate...anger. Ichigo's eyes were blazing and his hands were gripped so tight that she could see that they were white in the darkness. Needing to know what had caused this she raised her own head to look through the window.

She understood immediately.

The room was a mess with supplies and money, some of which had been reported as missing in the district. There was a lotof goods there and Rukia could see the entrance to some sort of cellar which probably had the rest of their stolen items in it. But this was by no means the worst.

No, the worst was far more obvious. The worst was that the sacks that ten or so had been carrying were on the floor, and the contents was gagged and bound. The contents was girls, all tied to a wall by their hands withleering men surrounding them, some already with their hands on them. She watched in horror as one slipped his hand down between a girls legs and tears dropped from her eyes. He just laughed cruelly.

Before he could do more he was stopped by a harsh bark of an order. "Stop it, you'll damage the merchandise and that one's for the 71st. Unless _you _want to buy it, she doesn't look like much so I might give her up cheap. "

'_Merchandise.'_That's what they were. These souls who resided in the afterlife, who live in _heaven _were just goods to be traded and abused, their souls worth a handful of coins and what goods they had stolen by the ones that should protect them.

She was unfrozen by Ichigo ripping his band off and his reiatsu exploding around him, black flames burning for a moment before they his spiritual pressure didn't drop, it was wild and intense, even without releasing his blade. She felt her own anger break forth after his, her own reiatsu billowing and dropping the temperature of the night, freezing the grass beneath her feet.

She looked around at Katashi who was watching suspiciously and motioned for him to move, restraining her anger. She knew what was coming and Ichigo confirmed it as he stalked around to the front of the house, ignoring the shouts from within.

"GET THE HELL OUT HERE NOW!" Ichigo roared. If there was one thing he despised above all else it was the protectors abusing their power. They had this powerfor a reason, yet all they did was change heaven into a hell for the unfortunate people they picked.

"Why should we?" Rukia heard, standing besideIchigo's tense frame with Katashi and his men behind her. She growled with Ichigo and he shouted out again.

"Because I am the fifth squad Captain, and I will destroy this house if you don't!" There was silence for a moment and then the door opened, revealing a group of scared and angry shinigami.

Ichigo spat out a command. "Line the hell up against the house."

They obeyed wordlessly, all lining up against the wall of the house the silence only broken by the broken sobs of the girls and Ichigo's ragged breathing.

Angrily he pulled out Zangetsu and slashed it across the air, the air displacement knocking a few back. "Cast off your fear, Zangetsu." His blade exploded into itstrue form and Ichigo's reiatsu rocketed up, pushing some of the weaker ones down onto their knees or making them sweat with the effort of standing.

"I'll ask you once, " He said softly, his calm voice disguising the burning anger around him. "just what the fuck do you think you are doing." His rage all but exploded when he heard a snicker of laughter from one of them.

But it was Rukia who was on him, blade held to his throat and standing just within range in an instant, her own eyes burning with cold fury. "You would laugh at a time like this? My Captain is not known for thinking things through so you just might die here."

The man stopped smiling but a twitch of his lips caused Rukia's eyes to narrow dangerously. "I am not as merciful as he is and know that the crimes you have committed are punishable by death, a fitting end for a wretch like you."

It happened before she could react. She caught the flash of a blade from the right and had moved to stop it but didn't expect the other from the left. She hadn't expected them to attack at all, they hardly had the power to challenge her, and definitely not enough to challenge Ichigo.

Ichigo saw and he widened his eyes in shock, taking a step forward to help her. Zangetsu's voice stopped him, ringing clear in his head.

'_Do you want to protect her, Ichigo?'_He answered frantically, seeing the blade move as if in slow motion.

'_Yes, now let me move!'_Before he could he felt his arm raise and point Zangetsu's shikai state at Rukia.

'_Then do as I show you and protect that most dear to you, Ichigo!"_Ichigo felt a strange presence in his body, Zangetsu. He was guiding his entire body, every movement was done with his hand and his foot as well as Ichigo's.

Ichigo moved Zangetsu so it was horizontal and Zangetsu's voice rang in his head again, reiatsu pulsing through his body towards the blade.

'_I will show you how to truly protect with me Ichigo, now speak out and eclipse your light with me...!'_The command resonated within Ichigo and he did as Zangetsu instructed and shouted it out as time resumed its normal speed.

"Gesshoku!"

The result was instantaneous as a black, curved disk exploded between Rukia and the second attacker, cutting into the ground and lined with blazing, blood red energy. The force of its appearance pushed the attackers back and they turned to look at Ichigo, who was looking at the section of a sphere in surprise.

Rukia was the first to recover, quickly disarming the two and knocking them out with Sode no shirayuki's hilt. After she was done she looked back at Ichigo in confusion.

"Ichigo, what's this?" Ichigo looked back at her blankly and shrugged almost meekly.

"I don't really know, Zangetsu just told me to follow his lead if I wanted to help you." Rukia flushed slightly and huffed in irritation to cover it up.

"I don't need your help, I would have been able to stop the blade in time." Ichigo rolled his eyes at her but the truth of her statement became apparent when he heard the clink of metal and the swing of a blade.

Looking back he saw that one of the, supposedly knocked-out, shinigami had tried a last ditch effort of throwing his blade at Ichigo. Rukia had cut it in half in mid-air and now had her foot on the man's head and was smirking at Ichigo**.**

"What was that, strawberry?" Ichigo glared back at her and mimicked her huff earlier.

"Whatever, you suck at knocking people out." Rukia glared back at him, digging her foot into the man's head slightly.

"That's just because I don't kill them by applying too much force like y_ou_." An irritated growl drew their attention away from each other and Katashi walked up with a scowl on his face.

"If you two love birds are fucking done, what are you going to do about them?" He gestured to the men who were all looking a little nervous now.

Ichigo scowled deeply, his temporarily forgotten anger reignited. "I'll call for a hell butterfly and have them all taken back to the Seireitei for their punishment, which will be at leasta lifetime in the maggots nest." Katashi nodded approvingly and Rukia turned to Ichigo.

"Ichigo, we need to question them too. We don't know how far this spreads, if they were selling things to the 71stthen this might be linked to how Rukongai degenerates so much within these areas." Ichigo nodded and gave them another glare.

"You're right, we need to check to see if the other members have got anything on this-" He stopped as he caught sight of that familiar face appeared shadowed behind a tree. Glancing at Rukia to make sure he wasn't seeing things he sealed Zangetsu quickly.

"Dammit, Rukia can you handle the questioning. I need to sort this out and stop it from bugging me." Rukia looked at him questioningly but noticed the confused yet determined expression on his face.

"What the hell could you need to do that is more important than stopping this!" She cried out angrily, seeing an irritated expression grow on him.

"I trust you to do this without me, midget! I'll only be a second and..." The face in the trees pulled back behind one and he saw the small figure turn and run towards the populated area of Rukongai."

"...Shit, Rukia just trust me, I'll be back in a moment!" Then he was gone, sprinting off towards the figure. Rukia watched after him, wondering what had caused him to run off. Sighing in exasperation she turned back to the significantly more scared looking men, her glare growing menacing.

'_I'll find out what he's up to later on, and punish him if he is just being stupid and not telling me. But for now..."_Her eyes grew cold and dangerous as she eyes up the men, preparing to do whatever necessary to get information out of them.

After all, Ichigo trusted her to do this and she wouldn't let him down.

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><p>Beta'd by <em>.lyingtonguesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Thanks again for all of the reviews! I know the chapter wasn't too long, even if it had interesting stuff in it, so here's my longest chapter to date :P Oh and remember that Ichigo and Rukia being in a relationship is not the end of their development, one kiss does not = completely at ease to do anything with each other if you know what I mean xD

Why did I give Ichigo a new move? Because he should have one -.- Zangetsu's had time to himself and time to think something up, and tbh Ichigo's never really needed a new move but I think this suits him just fine :D You'll learn more about it when he trains with it but _Gesshoku:_is Lunar eclipse by my translation :)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review etc, I've got to finish writing 29 D: (hangs head in shame)


	26. Do I know you?

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

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><p>Rukia raised her blade towards the cowering man, Katashi and his men looking on with approving eyes. Her own eyes were cold and her reiatsu was causing a frost on the ground.<p>

"If any of you try something, I will kill you." She paused, letting the words sink in before continuing the interrogation. "Now tell me who runs this."

The man gulped and looked around at his friends for support, who were in similar states. "Uhh, I don't know what you-" Rukia slashed her blade across the man's face, drawing blood.

"Don't be stupid." Rukia's face was impassive as she slid her blade underneath his neck. Years of Kuchiki family tradition had allowed her to hide all but the smallest hints of emotion in her eyes, nothing that he would notice.

"L-look I'm not part of the business, I just get what they want and help them out!" Rukia's eyes flickered slightly with anger and she looked over to Katashi.

"Go and check up on the girls, they'll need comforting and maybe help. If any are injured then take them to Nori and Haru's, I'm sure you can find out where it is." Katashi scowled as always, butnodded, motioning for his men to follow behind him as they went into the house.

Rukia turned her attention back to the man and slowly pulled her blade away from his throat. "I guess you don't know anything."

The man smiled, but it was short-lived as Rukia slammed the hilt of her Zanpakuto into his temple, knocking him out instantly. The ghost of a bemused smile remained as she turned to the next one, her blade once again risingto his throat.

"Do you know any more than him, or am I just wasting my time?" The man shifted uncomfortably and Rukia knew that he knew something.

Concentrating her reiatsu up the point of her blademade the man shiver slightly from the penetrating cold. After a moment'shesitation he looked down and stuttered an answer. "W-well, we get orders from the guy on the floor, who laughed. He gets them f-from...u-uhh...from the s-"

The rest was cut off by a gurgling choke and Rukia took a step back. The man besides him had managed to stab the man from behind him, the blade piercing his lungs and protruding a few inches from his chest, blood already spurting out of the wound.

"We _don't_know where the orders come from." Rukia snarled and slashed across the other man, a bloody trail breaking out across his chest. The two men fell, one dead and one injured, blood seeping from both of them.

Rukia looked away in disgust. She had never expected this kind of filth to exist within the shinigami, and had never wanted to be the one to kill another shinigami. Hollows were nothing, but this...this was wrong.

She looked down as she heard a groan and the shuffling of a body. The man from before, their leader, was waking up. '_Perfect.' _Rukia thought, if there was anyone that would have information then it would be him. It was just a matter of getting it out.

Walking over to him as he stood, she waited for him to wobble to his feet. Blood was already dripping from his mouth and he wiped it clumsily away, spitting to the floor.

"Little bastards, I-" The blade at his throat silence him, Sode no shirayuki already touching his flesh.

"You would do well to think carefully about exactly what you say." The man glared back at her, a hint of fear in his eyes as he took in the blade and her cold eyes.

"Tsh, you're just a Lieutenant, not that powerful. Your Captain even had to step in and save your pretty little neck." Rukia's eyes flashed in anger and she flicked her blade down before returning it to his neck.

He gasped out in pain and looked down at his arm, which had a curved slice cut into it."I may not be as strong as a Captain, but don't underestimate me. I have no mercy for people like you so tell me exactly who you are working with."

Pushing his fear away the man chuckled. "Oh really? There are twenty or so of my boys and one of you, since those pathetic souls with you would just get in the way. You really think you're that strong?"

Rukia noticed that a few of the shinigami had edged closer and had dropped their hands to their blades. Without hesitating she released her blade, spinning it vertically and calling out her command.

"Dance, Sode no shirayuki." Her reiatsu spread out around her, dropping the temperature around them and a white blade lifted before her.

"I'll ask you again, who are you working for?Tell me that and you won't need to suffer." The man scoffed at the woman, ignoring the high reiatsu he sensedpushing down on him.

"Don't be silly girl, get her!" It wasn't all of them that obliged, only five moved forwards with outstretched bladed.

Rukia stood still for as long as she could before flash-stepping away as they got within inches of her, leaving them all in the same location. Landing in the air above them, she pointed her blade at them and chanted the command that would seal their fate.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro."

A white tower erupted from the ground, instantly freezing all of those foolish enough to have attacked her. Rukia landed between the tower and the man who was now looking significantly more nervous than before, small beads of sweat forming on his brow.

"You still have a long way to go, I doubt any of you are even in seated positions." The man growled back at her, his hand dropping down to the hilt of his Zanpakuto.

"Bah, they might not be but I am the 19thseat of the 11thsquad! The best fighting squad." Rukia narrowed her eyes at this.

"Really? Well, I will have to talk to Captain Zaraki about exactly who he promotes." The man barked out a round of laughter, pulling his Zanpakuto out slowly.

"The Captain doesn't care what you're like, as long as you're strong enough then you can get as high as you want!" Rukia relaxed her arm, letting Sode no shirayuki fall down to her side. Looking at the man with contempt she responded.

"You won't be getting anywhere after this. You have disgraced the name shinigami and you are right that your Captain doesn't care, especially not about some random low-ranked officer." The man growled and swung his blade at her wildly.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Rukia's expression didn't change as she brought her own blade up to meet his, the two connecting and sending a flash of sparks into the night.

He struggled, putting both hands on the hilt of his blade and pushing against the white obstacle. Rukia didn't even use her other hand to block the force, simply pushing more of her own reiatsu into the blade and easily holding off the shaking blade against it.

"You're too weak." With that statement she pushed more power into her blade and sharpened it, moving her Zanpakuto up against his.

With a loud crack his blade shattered, Sode no shirayuki sliced through the metal and gracefully returned to Rukia's side, theribbon blowing elegantly in the cool breeze. The officer froze at the sight of his blade so effortlessly shattered, shards of metal falling down and embedding themselves in the hardened dirt.

Rukia raised her blade again his throat and repeated her earlier question. "Now tell me who you are taking orders from."

The man cursed and looked around frantically, desperate for a way out. But there wasn't one, the cold metal of the blade was unforgiving and his blood was turned cold by it. Growling he quickly made a decision, his life wasn't worth this.

"Fine, fine I don't know how that Captain puts up with you," Rukia put the slightest bit of pressure on her blade, drawing a drop of blood. He glared back at her and continued. "Butlike I was saying, I'll tell you who I get my orders from."

Rukia nodded but didn't move her blade. "Speak then, and quickly." He let out a sigh and looked away in irritation. They had never expected an entire squad to be moved down here, it was inconvenient.

"I get orders from a guy in the 78thdistrict..."Rukia widened her eyes. How could it be there? Where she had grown up, had it become even more corrupted than before in her time as a shinigami?

Theman continued, unaware of her surprise**, **"Idon't know much about him but he is definitely based there. We get orders on what to take, sell, destroy and where to send the girls." He jerked his thumb towards them and leered slightly. "Seems like we have them sent to a fair few district but nearly all in the 60-80 range, we get some of our own from other districts of course-"

Rukia cut him off by placing a well**-**aimedpunch in his stomach and silencing him. Falling to his knees she looked down on him with contempt. "You are despicable, " Looking up she eyes the rest of the shifty group. "All of you. I will make sure you get the maximum punishment for this from central 46, even if I have to appeal to them myself, you, and the rest of this sick organisation."

Looking around at them once more to get the point across she raised her hand and called a hell butterfly. She did not want help in cleaning up this mess, just help in disposing of the shinigami that came with it. This was squad fives task and they would achieve it bythemselves.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki of squad five, requesting assistance to contain 26 rogueshinigami, more are likely to follow..."

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><p>Ichigo pushed through the wild branches that jutted off from the tree's that grew around central 67th. He could hear the occasional crack ahead of him of the girl as she ran, expertly making her way through the plants. Clearly she had done this before.<p>

"Oi, get back here!" Ichigo tried. He didn't get a response aside from the increasing speed of her feet against the soft ground. Cursing, he sped up with only the sounds of her movements to go on and the occasional flash of ragged clothing.

'_How can she be here and who the hell is she?' _Ichigo wondered as he dodged below a branch. It was impossible, he knew that much. Unless the 12thsquad was screwing with him, in which case he would have a rather large boot to Place up Mayuri's ass.

It wasn't the first time he had a run in with the squad of research and development. The insane Captain had demanded that Ichigo be given to him as a research specimen before he became an official Captain to make sure he was _safe_. Needless to say his proposition was unanimously rejected by the Captains, even Byakuya. So if this was some ploy to get back at him then Ichigo would not be happy, not at all.

'_Either way I need to get to her, if only to prove that it's not her.' _Seeing the end of the foliage up above, Ichigo pushed through the bushed and looked around for his quarry. Shaking his head to get the leaves out of his hair he scowled.

"Where did she go..." He wondered out loud, scanning the area for the bob of black hair and the rags that clothed her. He couldn't see anything against the darkness and growled in irritation.

"Dammit, if she looks like her..." Musing about it for a moment he remembered something and looked up in a moment of inspiration.

He caught what he was looking for sitting in the boughs of a tree, half-hidden in the shadows and looking down on him curiously. After she caught him looking she flinched back, moving towards the tree's trunk.

"No, wait!" But it was toolate, she was already expertly climbing down the tree. Ichigo cursed and flash-stepped over to the tree, arriving in front of her just before she got to the ground.

The girl reached the ground and turned, only to be met with Ichigo's scowling face towering over her. She took a step back, hitting the tree and looking up at Ichigo with fear in her wide eyes.

"Uh, please, p-please don't hurt me. I-I'm sorry for watching you, I-I..." She trailed of, looking around for an escape from the imposing shinigami nervously. She had just been curious of what had been happening, she never expected this man to come and get her like those other girls.

Ichigo cut her off with a sigh. "Just stop talking and tell me who you are." The girl flinched back slightly at his sharp tone and Ichigo sighed again in exasperation.

"I-um, well-" Just as she was about to continue Ichigo felt a hollow presence behind him and growled in irritation.

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><p>Urahara watched through his monitor, and almost exploded with excitement as he saw who it was that Ichigo had managed to find. Giddy, he called out to Yoruichi.<p>

"Oh Yoruichiiiii!" He heard a groan from her room, followed by a series of curses.

Her door slid open, revealing **a**messy haired, and irritated Yoruichi. "What is it Kisuke, you know we were up all night." Urahara chuckled and and winked at her.

"Of course, but it seems we will be taking a trip to the Soul-society for our student once again." Yoruichi raised her sleepy eyebrows.

"Eh, Ichigo? Unless you've got something that will make him submissive then it better be good to havedisturbedme." Urahara raised his eyebrows in surprise, leaning slightly closer to her.

"Why would you want him to be..." Yoruichi managed to make a perverted face to rival his own and winked at him.

"Personal reasons, Kisuke, personal reasons." Urahara pouted at the, not so subtle, implications.

"You're so mean, Yoruichi." She just shrugged, stretching out and then grinned back at him.

"I just wanted to take his first time Kisuke, is that so wrong?" Urahara seemed on ponder this for a moment before he answered.

"Yes." Yoruichi pouted, punching him gently on the arm.

"You're no fun any more." Urahara smirked and leant closer to her, a lusty glint in his eyes.

"Oh really, well you know that Ichigo would be young and inexperienced...and would he know what you want my kitty?" Yoruichi glared at the nickname but was overwhelmed by the want for man before her.

Their lips met and instantly tongues were at war, Yoruichi still sluggish and lazy from her sleep, Urahara expertly taking advantage and dominating her. Yoruichi growled in irritation, pulling him closer to her and rubbing her hands up his skin beneath his robes.

Urahara pulled away, smirking back at her. "Still sleepy?" Yoruichi glared at him and snapped her teeth at the finger Urahara prodded her with for a response.

"Fuck you Kisuke. Now enough jokes, if you ever want to be in the same bed as me again I suggest you show me why I am up. Did Ichigo and Rukia do it already?" Urahara pouted back at her, walking back towards his perver-_security _station.

"No, they haven't even made-out again since that first time. They sure are slow, at this rate they'll never have a child I can corrupt." Yoruichi rolledher eyes and stood next to him, looking at the black screen.

"Hmm, do you think a mini-Ichigo would be as good looking as full-grown Ichigo?" Urahara dead-panned.

"I don't know, but considering the parents I doubt they will let you near him if they get what you want." Yoruichi pouted again, sitting down with crossed legs and resting her head on a hand.

"Yeah, 'spose you're right there. I wonder if I could get Soi-fon to join us..." Urahara's eyes lit up at that and a perverted grin worked across his face.

"I'll get working on something to help you _persuade _her." Yoruichi smirked back at him then looked blankly at the screen.

"So what is this all about?" Urahara responded by switching on the screen, showing the figure that stood before Ichigo.

"What's so important about that it's just..." She squinted at the figure and her golden eyes widened in shock. "Kisuke, is that who I think it is?"

Urahara nodded happily and leaned back into his chair. "Yes, it seems someone got lucky with the regeneration cycle. I suppose that happens when you die early in Rukongai, or at least relatively early." Yoruichi nodded and squinted at the image again, her own grin braking out slowly.

"So what are we going to do about this?" Urahara grinned back at her and pulled out his fan.

"Well, my dear Yoruichi, we are going to take a trip back with a little experiment I _happen_to have ready." Yoruichi smirked, standing up and going over to him she leant down and whispered back, just an inch from his ear.

"Oh, so this is just a coincidence that you've been so busy with this lately..." Urahara smirked back at her and brought his lips to meet hers briefly.

"Of course my dear, of course."

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><p>"Great, just great. Now of all times they decide to show up..." Ichigo continued grumbling as he drew his blade, glancing back at the shadowed girl and giving her a grimace.<p>

"Listen, you just stay behind me okay? A hollow is coming so I'll deal with it then we'll continue this." Her eyes widened in fear and she nodded her head quickly.

Not a second later the hollow appeared, roaring as it pushed asides the treesand landed before Ichigo. He just looked at it with a bored expression and tightened his grip on Zangetsu slightly.

The hollow was centipede-like in appearance, with multiple green and white segments leading up to a cavernous mouth brimming with teeth. It roared again at the Captain and the small girl, taking a few steps forward with itsprongs.

Ichigo brought Zangetsu's sealed form in-front of him and prepared for its attack, not wanting to be caught off guard before the girl. He was proven right as the mouth opened again and a long, spiked tongue emerged at lightningspeed. Ichigo growled as it approached and swung his blade to block the attack, slicing straight through the appendage.

The strange girl backed off at the attack, watching the fight scene with a mixture of horror and awe. She had never seen a hollow before; shehad only heard of them and sometimes heard the sounds of battle.

Ichigo scowled at the hollow, he preferred the straight up ones, without any disgusting features of weapons which they tended to use. He felt a few drops of blood spatter onto his rope and his scowl deepened; he would have to have his haori washed again.

"Can't you just die cleanly for once?" He asked with boredom. The hollow wasn't advanced enough to respond and just roared in pain and anger.

That was enough for Ichigo and he decided to end this quickly, flash-stepping to the hollow he slashed up with his blade and ripped through the white mask. The hollow disintegrated quickly and left Ichigo and the mysterious girl alone once again.

"Stupid things, always at the worst time." Ichigo scowled at the space where the hollow used to be and then turned back around to the girl.

"C'mon, now you have to tell me who-" Another figure interrupted Ichigo's attempt again, causing him to shout out in frustration. "God dammit, what now?"

His response was an angry Rukia glaring at him and folding her arms across her chest besides him. "Don't shout at me for nothing you fool."

Ichigo blinked in surprises and winced slightly as he saw Rukia standing besidehim...looking pissed. "Oh, uh Rukia...what are you doing here?" Rukia continued to glare at him for a moment then looked away in irritation.

"I came to find you after you ran away because I've got the information from them, I also sensed a hollow, which I can only assume you took care of." Ichigo nodded and then smirked at her.

"Great, now we can take them down and clean out the whole of the area. How did you restrain them?" Rukia turned back to him, some of her anger at his rudeness having cooled off.

"A few members of the stealth squad were nearby on a mission. They got my message and relayed it to Captain Soi-fon, guarding the captives temporarily before she could send more men to escort them back to their holding facility." Ichigo nodded in appreciation, reminding himself to explain the whole situation to Yamamoto if he was asked about support from another squad. Not thathe wouldn't be talking to him anyway if this went toofar.

A small noise brought both of their attention to the girl who had her back against a tree and was looking at Rukia with wide, astonished eyes. They were all that was visible from the shadow of the tall tree, the rest of her shrouded in darkness.

"Who's this, and why is she so important?" Ichigo thought he heard the smallest hint of jealousy in Rukia's voice and frowned in response.

"I don't know, that's the problem." Rukia looked over at him like he was stupid.

"I'm sure the number of people who you don't know in Rukongai could populate the living world Ichigo." Ichigo glared back at her and waved a hand at the girl.

"Just look at her, then tell me this isn't weird!" Rukia looked back at him dubiously but complied, smiling at the girl, who seemed to be about her height maybe a hair taller, she held out a hand.

"Hey, can you come forward into the light for a moment? I need to see what Ichigo is so worked up about." The girl shied away slightly and shook her head.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea." Rukia smiled again and gestured forward softly.

"Please, it won't take long." The girl hesitated but did as Rukia asked.

Rukia froze, eyes locked on the figure in-front of her, the woman who was dead. She had been dead for a long time, how could she be back, how could she be here? She had died when Rukia was only a child after all.

There was no mistaking that form though: shoulder length black hair so similar to her own, a petite form to match her own and even the same eyes looking back at her from a softer face. It was her, she had seen her before in pictures.

"I'm Hisana." Her sister, Hisana Kuchiki.

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><p><em>Beta'd by <em>_.lyingtonguesareclumsy. _

(A/N) Another shortish chapter I suppose D: Oh well, you get plot exposition so that's worth it, right? XD Yus, Hisana is back. If you want to know a secret, that was my original reason for the last 2 arcs, but then they became more important!

About their relationship progression; I'm trying at the moment to balance the plot and the romance and unfortunately or some, we are getting to the peak of the arc, so romance is harder to get in. I do it this way because I kinda want this to be seen as a possible way you could continue Bleach from 423. And Kubo has said that he doesn't want to focus on romance specifically, that doesn't mean I won't at some points though xD

Lastly, a cookie to all those who knew it was Hisana beforehand! I tried to make it vague but I did give you some nice hints, so congrats! Thanks for the reviews and sorry if you tried to PM me recently, my account reset the settings and I wasn't getting alerts and couldn't sned or respond to PM's. All fixed now though!


	27. The Lost Kuchiki

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

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><p>Rukia couldn't believe her eyes: Her sister was standing in front of her. She had never seen her in the flesh before, only frozen in time. Her brother had a shrine to Hisana set up in one of the rooms of his mansion, he had taken Rukia to show her the sister that had abandoned her. The sister who had then spent the rest of her life searching for her.<p>

"You...you're her." Rukia said in wonder, looking at the almost-perfect mirror image of herself.

Her face was softer and she was the slightest bit taller than Rukia, along with her longer and more frayed hair. But at a first glance, and even second they would seem identical.

Ichigo looked between them, confused. "Wait, Rukia is she..." He had heard of her sister before. He also knew that she had died around fifty years ago.

"Yes, she is my sister." Both Ichigo and Hisana's eyes widened in surprise at the statement, Ichigo looking at Hisana and Hisana looking back at Rukia.

"W-what do you mean shinigami?" Rukia looked down sadly before she quietly responded.

"Don't worry about it Hisana. I am Rukia Kuchiki and he is Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo looked at her incredulously.

"What the hell Rukia, she's-" He didn't finish as Rukia grabbed him and pulled him slightly to the side, their heads close.

"Don't you think I know that Ichigo." She whispered, pain clear in her violet eyes. "She's died again and is back here, it shouldn't happen this fast hell, she shouldn't even remember her name. This situation is exactly why it takes a long time for souls to be reborn, so family members don't meet each other again!" Rukia almosthad tears in her eyes at the end, instead her eyes had a watery sheen in the darkness.

Ichigo sighed and pulled her into him, embracing her small for with his large one. Rukia responded by balling her hands in the cloth of his shihakusho, leaning her head against his chest. They stayed like this for a moment, Ichigo doing all he could to comfort Rukia and Rukia taking whatever he could give her.

Rukia suddenly realised what she was doing and pushed away. Hard. Ichigo widened his eyes in shock and fell backwards, landing on his back with his arms spread out either side. He scowled up at her from the mossy floor and questioned her. "What the hell, Rukia?"

She looked away, slightly embarrassed that she had let herself act so strangely and that she had almost let him known what kind of affect he had on her. She was glad he was thick-headed sometimes.

"You shouldn't have been so close. After all, you practically groped me..." Ichigo spluttered and turned red at her insinuation. Never mind the fact she hadn't been denying the hug, she was accusing him of groping her _whilst _they were in a relationship.

"But, I-Arghh" Ichigo shouted in frustration and grabbed his hair with his hands. This was just too aggravating for him; theirrelationship was still toonew to be truly defined. Neither of them wanted to make those first movements, neither of them knew how. It didn't help that after their first kiss they had each thrown themselves into their work to avoid talking about it to any extent. They both wanted it, but they were still both...them.

Rukia had similar thoughtsabout Ichigo, but she pushed them back for now. She had avoided thinking about it too much in the week after their first kiss, so much so that it was a blur of hollows and helping the locals. They were both standing on opposite edges of a cliff, all they needed to do was reach out.

Sighing, she forced her mind back to the issue of her sister. She looked sadly down at Ichigo, then away, at the nervous Hisana. "We shouldn't tell her."

Ichigo pushed himself up and brushed himself down before he looked at her softly. "Why not?" Rukia smiled sadly again, then looked away.

"It will only distress her, Nii-sama said that Hisana was always a loving and kind woman. It would make her feel terrible if she thought she was causing me pain." Ichigo sighed again and walked past her, pausing besideher and taking her hand in his for a second.

"I'm here if you need me, midget." Rukia smiled back at him. The simple act was all she could deal with at the moment, and Ichigo knew that.

"I know, strawberry." Ichigo smirked to himself, then turned around to see Rukia walk up to Hisana.

"Sorry about that, and about before. Did Ichigo scare you?" Hisana blushed at Rukia's question and looked away, nodding slightly after a moment.

"I-I watched him before, when he was hurt and Nori was helping him. I wanted to check if he was okay, but then I saw you and, I mean, you look like..." Rukia nodded and gave a fake smile.

"Yes, we look similar. It's a remarkable...coincidence." Ichigo heard the undertone of pain in her voiceand was astonished by the resolve she had. He always had been impressed by her ability to weather nearly any storm and still keep a calm face and a strong voice.

Where others would break down, Rukia was composed, even if inside she was falling apart at the seams. It took something big to make her show her pain, or for her to be with somebody who she trusted to see her in a vulnerable state.

"I suppose, it's just..." Hisana's eyes glazed over for a moment the she shook her head and smiled shyly back at Rukia. "Sorry, forget about it."

Rukia looked away, the pain building inside her. Ichigo noticed and stepped in. "Don't worry, you're called Hisana then?"

She nodded and looked down at her ragged clothes. "Yes, sorry I am not very presentable for a Captain." Ichigo blinked in surprised and looked at her poor clothing.

"It's not like you could get any better clothes and I don't mind, just call me Ichigo." Hisana smiled back at him, despite still being slightly self-conscious of her clothes.

"Okay, Ichigo and, "She turned to Rukia and smiled at her. "AndRukia, right?" Rukia was slightly taken aback by her sister'ssmile. She looked so kind and inviting, the pictures didn't do her justice.

"Y-yes, I'm Rukia, glad to meet you." She stuttered slightly at the, almost surreal, image. Hisana smiled again, becoming a little more open to the two imposing shinigami.

"I'm sorry about watching you both, I was just curious." Ichigo raised her eyebrows at the soft, guilty tone; helooked at Rukia, who didn't seem surprised by it. Presumably Byakuya had told her more than she had told him, not that he needed to know details.

Ichigo chuckled slightly. "Like I said, don't worry about it." Turning slightly he smirked at Rukia. "She's much more polite than you, Rukia."

Hisana blushed slightly and Rukia glared at Ichigo, crossing her arms in irritation. "I have impeccable manners if the situation calls for it, but you're hardly a noble." Ichigo frowned, glaring back at her.

"You saying I can't have manners if I need to? Byakuya didn't seem to think they were that bad before." Rukia dead panned, responding dully.

"Right, until you shouted at him and stormed out." Ichigo scowled and looked away, his eyeslanding on Rukia's clone.

Her eyes were once again glazed over and she was looking into the distance, yet at nothing in particular. A hand was hanging absently next to her lips, like she had been mid-thought when she had frozen.

Hisana didn't know what was wrong, but something was. Something felt...off. Like being in a pitch black room, yet knowing someone is before you. She shook her head slightly and blinked her wide eyes, Ichigo's concerned face fading into view.

"I...sorry again. I felt weird for a moment then." Ichigo looked at her seriously for a moment, then shrugged and looked away.

"As long as you're okay." He caught Rukia's eyes as he looked away from Hisana. She knew what he was thinking and shook her head slightly.

He thought that it might be a sign of Hisana recovering his memories, and he could be right. But Rukia didn't want to hope for something so unlikely, to hope for something bordering on the impossible as far as she knew. No matter how much she might want her lost sister back, if only to help ease the guilt she felt, she couldn't try to force an old life onto her soul.

Ichigo noticed and frowned internally. Rukia always put the needs of other before herself, despite her situation. She had shown him that when he first met her, taking the attack for him, a random teenager, without hesitation. She deserved to get something back, and he would do all he could, even if she wouldn't because she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"So you've got the information from those guys?" Ichigo asked Rukia, drawing her attention away from Hisana.

Rukia nodded and attempted to organise her thoughts. "Right, I found out that they take orders from the 78thdistrict, Inuzuri." Ichigo widened his eyes as he recognised the name.

"Wait, didn't you-" Rukia nodded and cut him off.

"Yes I grew up there with Renji." Hisana looked at Rukia in surprise. She had thought shinigami usually come from the higher up areas, not from somewhere like the 78th, which was about as far away as you could get.

Hisana was still surprised by how similar the woman looked to her. She was slightly shorter though, with shorter hair and a face that looked harder, as though the woman had hardened it herself. But she noticed that her face always softened ever so slightly, as did her eyes, when she looked at the Captain. Ichigo Kurosaki.

Ichigo frowned at this. "Do you remember anything about that kind of thing?" Rukia shook her head and frowned.

"No, it was always corrupt and violent, but I never remembered anything like what went on here. I can barely remember any shinigami down there at all." Ichigo nodded, frowning as he thought about the situation.

Hisana spoke up softly, not sure if she should. "Did-did you stop those men?" Rukia nodded and smiled slightly back at her.

"Yes, but we have to make sure they are cleaned out from all the districts, to make sure this doesn't continue." Her face became serious as she thought of something. "They, they didn't do anything to you...did they?"

Hisana looked at her, confused, but widened her eyes in comprehension after a moment. "Oh no, they never managed to find me. I hid from them if they were near."

Ichigo growled in anger at this. They had caused fear needlessly and it made him hate them all the more. "Don't worry," He said, looking at her nervous face. "They won't be getting anyone else if we can stop it."

Rukia stepped forward and nodded. "That's right, they'll get the harshest punishment possible for their crimes."

Hisana smiled softly and looked up at them thankfully. "Thank you, you will make a lot of people happy."

Ichigo nodded and turned back to Rukia, frowning slightly he leant down and whispered into her ear. "Rukia, what are we going to do about her?"

Rukia frowned and tried to ignore his lips, which were brushing against her ear. Being in a relationship with him didn't alleviate the new sensations she felt, or make her suddenly lose her self-conscious thoughts. Resisting the urge to draw closer to him, she responded.

"We just leave her here...she has a new life, she doesn't need reminders like us to make her feel guilty." Ichigo sighed and rested his head against hers ever so gently. This was hardly intimate for them, they were used to the others presence more than anything else.

He wasn't about to tell her that he loved that he could do that now. Not that he was a public person at all, but neither was she, and that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it in private. This was hardly private, so he pulled away after the small act of comfort.

"If you think that's best, then sure. But for the record I don't agree..." He trailed off, not wanting to make her feel guilty. This was her decision, not his.

Rukia smiled sadly at him and opened her mouth to respond, but was cut offby a loud, jovial voice ringing out through the clearing.

"What a coincidence! Who would know we would meet again so soon." Urahara walked out of the shadows, Yoruichi dropping besides him from a tree.

Hisana backed away slightly from the strange, new visitors. Ichigo and Rukia turned to look at them, both raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"What are you two doing here?" Urahara feigned hurt and sidled over to Rukia, leaning an arm against her.

"Such a cold greeting, your boyfriend is so harsh ." Rukia flushed and looked away, Ichigo trying to glare at Urahara whilst blushing.

"W-what- who told you?" Rukia stuttered, silently cursing that, Urahara of all people, had found out so soon. The shop-keeper just grinned and tipped his hatmysteriously.

"A little birdie told me." Ichigo growled in irritation at the former-Captain. He never answered straightly, and always knew more than he let on.

Yoruichi smirked at Urahara behind his back, knowing full well that this would come back to bite him on the ass. She could enjoy the fun of Ichigo not knowing now and watch Urahara flee later, either way, shewon.

"It's about time you know. Thesexual tension was suffocating with you two." Yoruichi pointed out, causing the two shinigami to blush again. Ichigo recovered quickly, and responded with the faint dash of red still adorning his cheeks.

"Right, thanks. Not that it's not nice to see you-" He was cut off and Urahara finished for him.

"But, you'd like to know what this humble couple is doing here?" Ichigo rolled his eyes at the two. Humble was the last word he would use to describe theself-proclaimed perverted-yet-sexy shop-keeper and the 'goddess of flash.' They were anything _but _humble.

"Yeah, something like that." Urahara brought out his cane and pointed it at the nervous, yet curious Hisana who was backed against a tree.

"We are here because of a certain someone just happens to be the perfect person to test my latest toy on." Both Ichigo and Rukia looked around to Hisana, and Rukia responded quickly.

"No. I know how your experiments go Urahara, you might not be Captain Kurotsuchi, but that doesn't mean it will be safe." Urahara pouted slightly, knowing that she was referencing the Hogyoku.

"You're never going to let that go are you?" Rukia dead-panned at the man.

"You created a device that pretty much created hollowfication, inspired and allowed Aizen to start a war, ending the lives of many shinigami and almost destroyedthe world." Urahara frowned slightly as he mentally added up the bad things it had done.

"Well, I did apologise to you for storing it in you. On the up-side, if I had not invented it then the visored would never have existed to teach your dear Captain how to control his hollow." Rukia frowned slightly and responded with determination.

"Ichigo would have found a way, he wouldn't let something like that beat him." Urahara just smirked and winked at Ichigo.

"Your lover certainly has a lot of faith in you Ichigo, if you want any tips on how to _please _her I-" Ichigo shut him up by slamming a foot into his face, a vein bulging on his head.

"Just shut up you perverted old man!" Urahara frowned slightly, rubbing his bruised face.

"Yourfather is much nicer you know. You should take lessons from him." Ichigo rolled his eyes and scowled.

"He raised me, so blame him." Urahara chuckled and stood of from where he had fallen, adjusting the hat on his head.

"I do, don't worry. Now about little Hisana over there, you need to trust me on this." Ichigo frowned slightly as he noticed that Urahara had fallen into his serious voice. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he knew that Kisuke knew what he was doing. Mostof the time.

Sensing Ichigo's hesitation, Yoruichi stepped forwards. "Don't worry Ichigo, we are just going to take her to a safe location. We won't be able to do anything regardless without the right people." Ichigo raised an eyebrow questioningly but the woman said no more. Confused, he looked over to Rukia, it was her sister after all.

Rukia didn't know what to think, she wanted her sister to live the new life she had been given. Free of guilt and free of worry. On the other hand she had seen first-hand what that had done to Ichigo, whilst the situation was not the same she knew it wasn't her right to choose. She also admitted to herself that she had a selfish motive in wanting her sister who she had never know back.

'_What should I do?'_She asked desperately. Her response was the soft, calming voice of Sode no Shirayuki.

'_Think about this Rukia. You may not trust this man, but you know he is a genius. There is only one reason he would want Hisana; that you know. You also know Hisana's last and greatest wish.'_Rukia's eyes widened slightly at that.

'_Her last wish was...to find me.'_Sode no Shirayuki silently agreed with her host. Rukia focused her eyes and looked at Urahara with determination.

"Will this work?" Urahara grinned slightly and surveyed her for a moment before replying.

"I expect so, my inventions usually do. As I said, this particular one is dependant on the people involved." Rukia frowned slightly and looked over to Hisana, who looked very confused at the conversation going on before her.

"What do you mean?" Urahara's grin widened and he started making his way towards Hisana.

"You'll see when you have finished up here. Send me a hell butterfly when you are done with cleaning up this place, and I will send you directions." Ichigo and Rukia frowned beforeIchigo sighed in consent.

"Fine, but you better tell us what this is about after we're done." Urahara nodded and then both men turned to Rukia.

"You okay with this Rukia?" Ichigo questioned, since it was her decision in the end.

Rukia hesitated, thinking about the possibilities of what Urahara had in store for her sister. Just this once she decided to hope; to hope for her sister to get back the life that was cut short. Looking up at Urahara she nodded.

"Yes, as long as no harm will come to her." Urahara grinned and Yoruichi walked over to Hisana, when she reached her she looked down on the confused and nervous girl with curiosity.

"Looks like you are coming with us." Hisana's eyes widened in fear and she looked over to Ichigo and Rukia desperately.

Ichigo caught the look and smiled reassuringly back at her. "Sorry, we've got work to do. We won't be too long though, until then Urahara and Yoruichi will take care of you I promise." Hisana still looked scared, but some of it was put at ease by his words.

"Well, let's get this show on the road. Don't do anything I wouldn't do you two!" Urahara chirped happily as Yoruichi walked away to the edge of the clearing with Hisana in her arms.

"What _wouldn't _you do?" Rukia dead-panned. Urahara just chuckled and walked over so he was besides Yoruichi.

"Exactly." With that they were gone, both having flash-stepped away after Urahara had finished. Ichigo scowled at the empty spot for a moment then grumbled under his breath.

"Crazy hat-and-clogs, always knows something..." He trailed off as he looked at Rukia's conflicted face and snapped his fingers in-front of it.

"Yo, Rukia." Rukia looked up in surprise but it quickly morphed into irritation.

"What?" Ichigo rolled his eyes and pulled her up to him, so there was no gap between their bodies. Rukia gave a yelp of surprise but didn't attempt to get out of the embrace.

"Hisana will be fine. Urahara may seem crazy...and be crazy, but he does usually know what he's doing." Rukia sighed and rested her head against his chest softly.

"I know, Ichigo. I just...did I make the right decision? Or am I just being selfi-" She was cut off by Ichigo, who raised her head and surprised her by bringing his lips to hers with a passion.

The kiss was more passionate than their first, Ichigo being more dominant. Rukia however, pushed back without hesitation, she wasn't about to let him beat her at anything easily. She felt his tongue on the edge of her mouth and responded with her own, hesitantly sliding it across his.

The effect was instantaneous; Ichigo pushed his tongue into her mouth as she slid hers into his. He wanted to taste more of her, to feel more of her. She had the same idea and twisted a hand in his hair, caressing his own tongue with hers, both clashing and dancing. Ichigo let out a slight moan as she felt her tongue run over his softly, pulling her against him with more force and moving his head to the side so he could get deeper into her mouth.

After a few more moments of intense fighting the two broke apart, both breathing heavily and faces glowing red in the dark. Ichigo's eyes were stillsmouldering with passion in the dark, but he quickly looked away, once again ignoring the perverted hollow in his mind.

_**"She has a soft little tongue King, imagine what she can do-"**_Ichigo mentally blocked him off, not wanting to thinkabout it right now. Or ever, if it was from his hollow.

Rukia felt her heart beating excitedly in her chest. That was very different from the other two times. The first had been chaste and caring, the second loving and gentle. This...this had been passionate and much more wild. Rukia felt exhilarated by it, even as her cheeks remained heated by embarrassment.

'_Is that what you can do now he's your...boyfriend, is it?'_Sode no Shirayuki asked and Rukia blushed slightly deepened before responding.

'_Yes.'_Was he simple response, not wanting to think about what _else _they could freely do if they wanted to.

The Zanpakuto seemed to consider this for a moment. '_Well you should do it more, it feels very nice in here when you do and it makes me feel more...alive for some reason.'_Rukia blushed yet again.

She hadn't thought about what her Zanpakuto would feel when she did things with Ichigo. It made sense, after all she was part of her soul and livedin it but it was still a bit strange to think about. Shaking her head slightly she looked over to Ichigo, who seemed to be in the same state. Without thinking she said the first thing she could think of.

"I won." Ichigo looked around in surprise and raised his eyebrow in question.

"What?" Rukia looked down at the ground slightly more timidly. She hadn't meant to say that, but quickly gave herself a mental slap. Timid wasn't her and Ichigo wouldn't make her what she wasn't!

Looking back up him she flicked her loose bang out of her eyes. "You moaned first and you pulled away, so I won."

Ichigo looked back at her incredulously before he huffed in irritation. She was right. He had been the first to make any sounds, he would have to try harder next time. Smirking at that thought he leanedcloser to her.

"Well, we'll see what you say next time midget, I won't let you go so easily." Her heartfluttered slightly at the thought, but she didn't let him see and smirked back at him.

"Hah, I look forward to your attempt." They remained like this for a moment then Ichigo suddenly remembered that they had other things to do.

"So, eh, shall we get going?" Rukia blinked in surprise, having momentarily forgotten the mission. Frowning slightly she nodded and they both flash-stepped away, heading towards Nori and Haru's house on the edge of the town.

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><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtonguesareclumsy. <em>

_(A/N) _Another shortish chapter here I suppose, giving you some lovely reaction time xD For anyone worried about the speed of Ichigo and Rukia's relationship, don't be please :P It won't be moving to quickly or slowly if I can help it! And I can, because I'm writing it.

Sorry if I replied late to reviews and such, or if I haven't even got around to it yet D: I will, when I get home today. Please continue to review and such! I just love getting them :P Makes me want to write more.

P.s if you haven't read 473, YOU MUST! Ichigo get's his soon-to-be brother-in-law's approval xD huzzah for all!


	28. Following the trail

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Ichigo and Rukia appeared outside the siblings' house. Haru was sitting on the roof outside, idly dangling his legs offthe side and looking out at the district below him. He looked down at them as they walked up to the house.

"Ah, so the lovely couple is back." Ichigo scowled back at him and slammed his fist into the edge of the roof.

Haru's eyes widened as the building shook and he fell off the building, landing with a crash on the ground.

"Shut it, where's Nel?" Haru chuckled from the ground, sitting up he ruffled his hair and looked up at the irritated Captain.

"Nori took your girl out because she was bored. Anyway, how'd your little trip go?" Ichigo reached out to feel for Nel's reiatsu, when Rukia saw him concentrating, sheanswered for him.

"We managed to get a group of corrupt shinigami, butit looks like there are more. We are going to have to go and find the one who is telling them what to do if we want to really stop the corruption." Haru nodded and grinned back at her.

"Well that's good. Will you be leaving any other of your guys here whilst you are gone?" Rukia nodded and responded.

"Yes, I'll reassign some of the other members to patrol this district whilst Ichigo and I go to the 78th." Ichigo smirked as he finallycaught Nel's reiatsu not too far away.

"Ah, it seems the good Captain is back with us." Haru mocked as he looked over to Ichigo. Ichigo scowled back and waved him off.

"Go screw yourself Haru. Now if you would be so kind as to leave." Haru shrugged and pushed himself up. He walked down the road away from his house, throwing back one last jibe as he left.

"Don't do toomuch now, Nel and Nori will be back before too long." Ichigo resisted the urge to run up to the man and punch him, instead rolling his eyes and trying to ignore him.

Rukia turned to him and asked something that had been bugging her. "What was that new ability? I'venever seen you use it before."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow in question. "You mean the one I used to save your ass?" Rukia scowled back at him.

"The one you used to interrupt my interrogation." He smirked back but answered.

"I'm not toosure, Zangetsu told me to follow his lead. I have to get back and do some proper training with it to find out more about it." Rukia looked at the sealed handle of his blade curiously.

"I wonder if you'll get any other abilities now that Zangetsu is whole." Ichigo shrugged vaguely in response.

"I don't know, not all Zanpakuto are like yours with a billion separate abilities." Both Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki bristled at the insult and Rukia responded.

"My Zanpakuto has abilities for different situations, it requires finesse not brute strength." It was Ichigo and Zangetsu's turn to feel insulted now, and Ichigo scoffed.

"If you say so, we'll see what's what when we start your training." Rukia looked back at him in surprise.

"What?"

Ichigo sighed and leant against the house."You know, your training. You said you wanted to get better before, so I'll give you a hand. After all, Shunsui has asked if I want to train with him every once in a while." Rukia raised an eyebrow in response, she knew the 8thsquad Captain wasn't as lazy as he seemed, butthis was new to her.

"Really, do you know why?" Ichigo shrugged, looking out to the district as Haru had done.

"He just said that I could use someone of similar power to train with." Rukia frowned slightly. She knew she wasn't close to a Captain in terms of power, but the way he said it made it seem like she would hold him back.

"If that's what you need then I'll train with Momo or another Lieutenant." Ichigo moved his eyes to hers and saw the disappointment in them.

"You can do that if you want, I'm not going to stop you. However, you _are _going to be training with me as well." Rukia had the same look that meant she felt bad about something and Ichigo groaned to himself.

"Listen, that's an order. I know you are strong and I haven't actually fought with you yet. I'm training with Shunsui as well because he is much more experienced and I can go all out against him, including Bankai." Rukia nodded but she still wasn't happy.

It wasn't because of Ichigo, it was her, her power. She knew that Bankai wasn't something that was exactly common, but both Renji and Ichigo had gained it whilst she had not. Maybe it was time for her to ask Sode no Shirayuki about it. She pushed the thoughts away for now, resolving to ask her Zanpakuto about it later. She had a mission to complete.

"Fine, Ichigo. You better not forget about it though." Ichigo smirked back at her, bent down towards her and tapped her on the head with a knuckle.

"I won't idiot, you better be ready for some hard training though. Now, think about your own needs for once." Rukia slapped his hand away and smirked back at him, resting a hand on her blade.

"I look forward to it, _Captain._" She said his title sarcastically and he just grinned back at her in response.

After a few moments of looking down at her challenging face Ichigo lowered his voice and said softly. "You know, we are still alone..."

Rukia blushed slightly and hesitated before responding. "Your reiatsu sensing skills really need some work."

Before he could respond Nori came into view behind her, walking up the dirt path to the house. Ichigo pouted slightly, a bit disappointed that his time with Rukia had been cut short. Nori noticed as she got up to them, raising her eyebrows at him and turning to Rukia.

"What's up with Ichigo?" Rukia glared at him and elbowed him in the stomach before responding.

"Nothing, _right _Ichigo?" Ichigo took one look at the fierce glare she was shooting him and decided against saying anything. Not that he was going to, but if he needed any other incentive it was there in abundance.

"Sure...so, Nori, where's N-" He was interrupted by Nel's childish voice before he could finish.

"Don't worry Itsigo, Nel's been having fun with Nori and the other chilwen!" Nel's beaming face appeared from over Nori's shoulder and she quickly made her way to his.

Nori smiled with her and elaborated. "I took her back to see the other children. Since you were on a mission I thought she would like to play with some people her own age."

Ichigo thought about correcting her for a moment, but ended up just smirking over at Nel. "Well, did you play nice Nel?" Nel nodded her head furiously.

"Nel played tag with them. It wasn't as good as with Nel's old brothers but it was fun!" Ichigo's smirk grew slightly wider as he thought of her idea of tag. Eternal tag, not something your everyday soul plays.

"Good then, now," He looked up to Nori, locking eyes with her. "We've got to go for a while. It shouldn't take all that long but we have to end this now, before it grows out of control. The centre of this corruption is in the 78thdistrict, so we'll be going there and leaving some other shinigami here to continue our job."

Nori frowned then smiled back sadly and nodded her head. "Very well, it was good to have you here Cap- Ichigo and Rukia. You have helped us a lot already, more has changed in the last week than I ever thought I would see in Rukongai." Ichigo nodded back at her then shifted his eyes to Rukia and back.

"Don't worry, we should get back for a bit before we end this mission." Nori nodded and smiled back at him, before she turned to Rukia.

"Good bye to you as well Rukia, I'm glad you and Ichigo sorted yourselves out." Rukia blushed slightly and nodded.

"Yes, well. Someone has to stop him from being an idiot." Ichigo scoffed at that and raised a hand to Nori.

"Whatever, see you when we get back Nori, tell Haru I'll see him around as well. When we get back we'll see about the whole shinigami thing for you two if you'reinterested." Nori raised her own hand in response.

"Thank you, I'll talk to Haru about it." Ichigo nodded and walked off with Rukia and Nel, their conversation drifting over to Nori as they walked down the path.

"So how long will it take us to get there?" Ichigo asked Rukia, Nel looking over to her as well.

"I expect it will take us a day or two if we were to go without stopping, the farther out you get the farther the distance between the districts as they get more spread out. "

Ichigo groaned and his shoulders dropped slightly. "Damn, I swear it only took us a few days to get down to the 60thdistrict!" Rukia glared at him in response.

"That was because you insisted on going as fast as possible, which is why we also arrived about a day ahead of the rest of the squad."

He waved a hand in dismissal. "We have limited time, I'd rather not waste it."

The petite woman smirked back at him, a retort already on her lips. "I never pegged you for the working type."

Ichigo started and glared back at her in response. "Hey! I'm not lazy if I've got a job to do. I'll have you know I had multiple when I lost my powers." The rest of the conversation and the view of the two shinigami and the little girl faded out as they got farther away.

Nori gave a small smile and turned back to the house, ready to make some food with the supplies that they had left.

* * *

><p>Hisana looked around nervously but couldn't see much. She only caught a flash of her surroundings when Yoruichi came out of flash-step, but it was gone as soon as she moved off. She sometimes caught a glimpse of the man in thehat and saw him smirking as he flashed out of her vision.<p>

She caught a cry in her throat as they jerked to a halt, being caught against Yoruichi's strong arms.

"This is the place right, Kisuke?" Yoruichi asked, Hisana looked to her side to see Urahara land besides them.

"Indeedy, I still don't see why I couldn't carry her." Yoruichi lowered Hisana to the ground and scoffed, looking at Urahara as if her were stupid.

"Because I don't think either of the Kuchiki's would take kindly to _you _having close contact with her." Urahara pouted and Yoruichi smirked back at him.

"So cruel, I don't recall you having problems with it," The flash goddess grinned back at him, and thenher eyes flickeredto Hisana.

"Maybe so, but I don't have a certain Captain waiting with a Zanpakuto able to slice up whoever comes near me." Urahara sighed but nodded, turning his eyes to Hisana with his partner.

"Ah, well, how you deal with him I will never know Hisana." Hisana blinked in confusion, having no idea what the strange duo were talking about.

"What do you mean?" She asked timidly, only receiving a chuckle from the hatted man.

"You'll know soon enough. Now if you'll follow me we have some work to do." Hisana looked around at the white stone building. It looked out of place in its overgrown surroundings, with no obvious entrance to it.

"Where are we?" She questioned, wide eyes looking over the strange cube. Urahara tipped his hat slightly and his grin grew wider.

"Oh this is just a little place I built after the Soul-society saw fit to let me back in. You wouldn't have got this close if I didn't know you, now I wonder what's inside..." Urahara moved his hand slowly over to the building and touched it with his hand, just touching the smooth stone.

Hisana waited a moment in anticipation then, slowly, a door-shaped hole opened in the stone, the white material seemingly melting into the ground. Hisana felt a bit of disappointment as she saw only a darkened room within.

Urahara gave a fake gasp. "Just an empty room, why would I go to such extents to hide-" He was stopped by Yoruichi pushing him into the room.

"Stop being so dramatic Kisuke. This is an experimental Kido teleporterthat he developed." Urahara pouted again and sighed.

"Did you have to spoil my fun?" He turned his head towards Hisana, who was looking confused, and elaborated. "This is a highly Kido intensive teleporter that I developed for this kind of situation. Unfortunately it requires very specific measurements and a great deal of structural work on both ends, otherwise I would see that they were implemented all over the Soul-society." Yoruichi walked in with Hisana and the door sealed behind them, a soft red glow lighting the small room and displaying the complex arrangement of wood and symbols on the interior of the stone room.

"So where are you taking me?" Hisana wasn't completely at ease with these people yet. She had just met a sequence of strange people, the orange haired Captain and his Lieutenant who looked just like her. Then they had told her to trust the odd people before her, Hisana wasn't the type to object but she would prefer to know if she were in danger.

Yoruichi surprised her by smiling warmly at her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we aren't here to hurt you. I know it may seem strange, but you are more important than you know to people you don't know just yet."

Hisana raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had never considered herself important in any respect, all she wanted to do was live and help people when she could, so why was she special.

Urahara interjected before she could question further. "Sorry but that's all we can say for now. The time for exposition will be later, and it should be minimal if my experiment works." Before she could ask what he meant by experiment she was silence by a sudden force and a strange feeling pressing on her from all sides.

She felt like she was being crushed for an instant and then all three of them vanished, leaving the room empty and the symbols glowing red on the inside.

* * *

><p>Ichigo and Nel arrivedjust before Rukia onthe outskirts of the 78thdistrict. Nel looked up to Ichigo as he looked around the wilderness.<p>

"What's special about this place Itsigo?" Ichigo sighed and his eyes roamed around the poverty in the distance.

"This is where the orders for the, uh, _bad _shinigami are coming from...it's also where Rukia grew up." Nel followed his gaze and looked at the dilapidated houses in the distance.

"Wukia grew up here? It doesn't look very nice." Rukia landed behind them and responded, casing the two to turn around to her.

"It isn't. This is one of the farthest districts and one of the worst, I'm not _that _surprised the corruption has come from down here."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows and questioned her. "You expected something like this to happen?" Rukia shrugged her shoulders slightly and walked in front of them.

"I won't say I wasn't surprised, but more about the number of shinigami involved. It wouldn't be that much of a shock without them, I just thought...never mind." Rukia trailed off but Ichigo knew where she was going and finished her thought for her.

"You thought shinigami were better than this." Rukia nodded and gave him a small, sad smile.

"I just didn't expect them to be so many who were corrupt." Ichigo nodded and put Nel down for a moment.

He then walked up behind her, sliding his arms under hers and wrapping them around her. Rukia let herself fall into his embrace, her mind awash with memories and mixed emotions. It had been so long since she had been back here, over 50 years at least. She remembered struggling for her life with Renji and their other friends; even with the fun they had she couldn't deny that it was a hard life.

Ichigo rested his head on hers and let her sort her thoughts out. This was her past life, and just like she had done, he would wait until she was ready until he tried to help her with this.

"You can talk to me when you want, Rukia." He said softly. She brought her small, soft hands around in response and rested them on his, intertwining their fingers. She turned her head against his head and gave him a small smile.

Then she spoke softly, almost inaudibly. "Thank you."

He smiled back at her and the moment was interrupted by a tugging on the bottom of his shihakusho. He looked down to see Nel looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Let Nel join in!" Rukia also noticed and bent down to pick the small girl up. She snuggled into Rukia's robes, almost falling into them then looked up at Rukia. "Thanks Wukia!"

Rukia smiled down at the small girl at let herself have a moment'speace in light of what was to come. She had old memories here, and they had a job to do which wouldn't be pretty by the sounds of it. Needless to say, she had her share of bad memories her, but perhaps she could make some new ones with Ichigo, better ones.

She felt a sudden need to say something and looked up to Ichigo again. "We are going to clean this place up, Ichigo**. **No one should suffer in Rukongai any more." Ichigo nodded and pulled her closer to him as he looked out over the district.

"Right, this ends here." Rukia gave him a small, genuine smile at this and closed her eyes. She just allowed herself to be with him and Nel for a moment, almost like an impromptu family. She had to say, it didn't feel bad at all.

Ichigo mirrored her smiled with one of his own and held out his hand to call a hell butterfly and assemble the nearby squad. He never knew how there was always one nearby and he wasn't going to question it because it was damn useful.

* * *

><p>Ichigo and Rukia stood before a small group of shinigami from squad five. Ichigo had called in the shinigami from the 76thto 78thdistricts into the 78thin order to find and eliminate the roots of corruption that supposedly came from here.<p>

Ichigo stood forward to speak to the group. "By now you all know why you are here, to end the influence of these corrupt shinigami. We have information that they are based somewhere here." Rukia took over as he looked back at her.

"We know that the orders come from here, but that's it. We also found out from one of the shinigami under interrogation from squad 2 that the orders **are** sent out on Wednesdays. That means we have one day to prepare for the arrival of an unknown shinigami and follow them to the shinigami's base of operations." A squad member stepped forward and looked around nervously before asking a question.

"Uh, how are we going to do that, since they will probably hide their reiatsu." Ichigo responded, motioning to Rukia with his right hand.

"Rukia grew up here, so she knows this district well. She will be giving all of you places to watch, we don't know how far this spreads, so the officers will be main watch and everyone else here will go in with Me and Rukia when we find the entrance." Azumi frowned and questioned him.

"Shouldn't we go in with you, Captain?" Ichigo shook his head and explained his plan to them.

"No, we need officers who are quick to be ready to chase down any of them who try to flee. I am certain that none of the Lieutenants will be a part of this, so the worst will be other squad officers and if you unseated members get in trouble...I'll end it quickly." There were chuckles around the room and Ichigo smirked back at them. He didn't want to go Bankai yet, but he would if he had too.

He would prefer to be somewhere with other powerful shinigami when he first tried out his new Bankai; not to boast, butto make sure it was safe. He knew only too well the power that Zangetsu could give him, andjust how violent that power would be.

Ichigo pulled out of his thoughts and nodded to the group. "Right, for now, resume your normal duties, butonly in this district. Report back to me or any officer who will send it to me if you hear something about this problem." Ichigo looked around to check they were all listening then jerked his head towards the door.

"Waiting for something? Get out there." There was a chorus of, "Yes sir!"and the shinigami filed out of the small room, leaving Rukia and Nel with him. Nel had been watching from aledge on the wall behind the shinigami and now walked up to Ichigo.

She looked up at him with curious eyes and questioned him. "What should Nel do?" Ichigo looked over to Rukia questioningly.

"I don't know, Rukia do you know anyone who could take care of her?" Rukia shook her head and looked down at Nel in contemplation.

"No. All of the people I knew here have moved or are dead I think. We could leave her with Azumi, she wouldn't let us down if it counted." Ichigo shrugged and looked towards the location of Azumi's close reiatsu.

"We could, but she'll be busy. Hmm, who else could we leave her wit-" His musings were cut offby Nel's irritated voice interrupting them.

Nel had her small fists clenched and her face scrunched up. "No! Nel wants to come with Itsigo and Wukia. Nel went through Las Noches with Itsigo, how could this be worse for Nel!" Ichigo sighed and looked over to Rukia.

"She has a point there but..." He frowned and shook his head. "It was safer for you with me in Las Noches, Nel, but not here. You'll be safer away from the fighting."

Rukia frowned, too, butshe agreed with him. She knew how bad it felt to not know what was going on, just to know a friend...or more, was in a fight. Despite that, she felt the same as Ichigo; the battlefield was no place for a child as young as Nel.

She tried to console the angry child. "Nel, Ichigo's right. You'll be safer here and you should be able to feel Ichigo's reiatsu without trying. We'll be fine-"

Nel cut her off and Rukia's eyes widened as she felt the Arrancars reiatsu spike. "Nel won't let Itsigo get hurt like before, Nel can protect him like before!"

Nel disappeared in an explosion of pink reiatsu and Rukia started to move forward before she was stopped by Ichigo's outstretched arm. She looked over to him but he shook his head slightly; he had seen this before and knew Nel would be fine.

He was proved right as Nel's curvaceous adult form emerged from the smoke. Ichigo was relievedthat the shihakusho seemed to have changed size with her, coving her well rather than tearing as herprevious gown had. A Zanpakuto in a green sheath also materialised in her left hand, drawing the shinigami's attention for a moment.

She looked down and seemed just as surprised by her appearance, twisting her head around to get a better look at her clothed body. "You shinigami do have better clothes than we had in the Espada, they are very comfortable."

Rukia blinked in surprise and looked over the, without a doubt, _beautiful _figure of Nel. "N-Nel?" The Arrancar looked up and smiled back at Rukia.

"Oh, you've never seen me like this have you? Ichigo had a similar response to you, though he was hurt at the time." Rukia looked over to Ichigo, who scowled and crossed his arms.

"Yes I was, and you bear hugging me with t-those," He gestured vaguely to Nel's ample chest and she looked down innocently. "didn't help matters."

Nel flushed slightly and almost stamped her foot childishly. "S-shut up! You were hurt Ichigo, and I just wanted to make you better." Ichigo continued to scowl for a moment but then turned to Rukia and broke her surprised gaze.

"Yo, Rukia. We don't have a 3rdseat do we?" Rukia tore her envious gaze away from Nel and shook her head.

"No, Azumi said she was too busy training to take on extra duties and she is the most powerful besides us." Ichigo nodded and looked over to Nel, who was still exploring her new robes.

"Well then, Nel, looks like you've just joined the shinigami and made 3rdseat. Congratulations." Nel's eyes widened as she looked up at Ichigo, as did Rukia's.

"Ichigo, you can't do that! No offence Nel, but you are not technically a shinigami and-" Ichigo waved a hand in dismissal and scoffed.

"Doesn't matter to me, let Yamamoto try and stop me. Besides, you know this is the best place for her." Rukia groaned but nodded her head in agreement. She cared for Nel regardless, even though she had known her a short amount of time there was something endearing about the girl she couldn't deny. And her love of cute things wasn't helping.

"Fine, you're right. Nel does belong here...but you could have tried to at least ask the Captain Commander." Ichigo shrugged and Nel smiled at both of them.

"Don't worry Ichigo, I won't let you down. I only want to fight to protect others and the duties of a shinigami are exactly that." Ichigo smirked and nodded and Rukia gave Nel a small smile back.

"Very well, Nelliel. If this is what you want...then I wouldn't want to let you go without giving you a hand." Nel raised her eyebrows in question and Rukia smirked. "I'll teach how to be a true shinigami. I taught Ichigo so I can teach you."

Nel's eyes lit up and she stared disbelievingly at Rukia. "Really?"

Rukia nodded and dropped a hand to rest on Sode no Shirayuki. "Of course, I may not be your family in any respect...but I suppose, like Ichigo, I'm the closet you have."

Nel smiled back at her, her eyes shining with appreciation. "Thank you." She looked at Ichigo and gave him a softer smile. "Both of you, I never thought my life would be like this after the Espada. You've done more than I could have dreamed by giving me back my mind and giving me the things I never had...so thank you so much."

Ichigo smiled back at her, but he was inwardly surprised at how intelligent she seemed to be. Before he had seen a snippet of that intelligence, but also her childishness from before. In her adult form she had both, it was her nature despite her intellect and serious view on fighting. Outside of that personashe was more like Nel, more like her childish self.

He looked at her for a moment before a thought sprung to his mind. "Can you sustain this form now?" He questioned, remembering her transformation mid-fight with Nnoitra.

Nel frowned and thought about it before she responded. "I'm not sure, but it shouldn't be an issue since I won't need to exert my powers." Ichigo nodded, she wouldn't need her resurrection form by any means, she could defeat a lieutenant without it.

Rukia spoke up again, looking up at the taller Nel. She was the shortest '_again' _she thought slightly ruefully. "I'll start to help you become a true shinigami after we return to the seireitei, we'll also see Urahara about maintaining your powers."

Nel nodded and smiled thankfully before she made a request. "Do we have any books in the barracks?" Rukia raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked over to Ichigo.

"I don't know if we have any that aren't files, Ichigo?" The Captain rubbed the back of his head slightly uncomfortable before he responded.

"Well...I got Urahara to send me through my books and things I wanted from the human world. You could try and read some of those I suppose, we can get you some more later. Why do you ask?" Nel shrugged and inspected the handle on her blade.

"I like to read; when I was in the EspadaI did it after missions." Ichigo wasn't surprised, given, what he assumed was, her nature. He didn't have that much to go on but judging from what he knew she was more of a pacifist than you would expect, onlyfighting to defend herself or others for the most part. Calm and tactical on the battlefield and a cross between sophisticated and slightly childish off the field.

His little girl had grown up _very _quickly.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(AN) The chapters get kinda longer here, so yay! More stuff to put in them = longer chapters I suppose xD

Thanks as always for the kind words in your reviews! I took a bit longer to reply because I've been busy/slacking off D: but that shouldn't last too long. I look forward to reading more of them! I haven't got much to say, though I am going to give you this in case you forget! It's the listing of officers that I've used in squad five thus far. Also I meant to get this out yesterday, but I screwed up with what file I was supposed to be uploading -.- sorry about that.

Thanks again for all the reviews, I never though this story would be this popular :D Keep them coming!

Captain – Ichigo Kurosaki  
>Lieutenant – Rukia Kuchiki<br>3rd seat – Nelliel tu Kurosaki

4th seat – Azumi Kochi

8th seat – Katsuo Tamaku

11th seat – Yasu Endo

Since someone pointed this out from here down is **SPOILERS** from the manga, so stop reading of you don't want to read :)

Why do people try to mindfuck Ichigo so much D: what with Ginjou getting all angry and trying to blame it on Ukitake -.- The man's from a military group and he's given a rogue element (Ichigo) something so they can keep tabs on him and protect his friends from his reiatsu. Hell, the order likely came from Yamamoto. But Bankai next chapter so :3 YAY!


	29. Preparation and paperwork

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

"Captain! Captain!" The shout echoed through the streets of the district but there was no response. Azumi growled and searched for the reiatsu she had just felt, it had vanished as she had got close to it.

"I know you're around here Sir, Lieutenant Kuchiki told me to force you back if I had to." She heard a crack behind her and whipped around to see Ichigo frozen mid step as he emerged from behind a few old planks of wood.

He looked like a dear caught in headlights and he raised a hand to her. "You can't do this, I'm your superior, dammit!"

She smirked back at him and put her hand on her blade. "Maybe so, but my Lieutenant has given me orders and I intend to carry them out." Ichigo scowled and backed away, looking around for exit from the situation.

"Why didn't Rukia come herself if she has such an issue with me, I'm not going to go easily." Azumi nodded and started to move towards him.

"I didn't expect you too. The Lieutenant said that she's not prepared to chase you around because she has to catch up on her work." Ichigo sighed and shifted his eyes to his chosen exit.

"Fine, then I'll just-" He cut himself off by sprinting away from Azumi and she perused him as he darted down an alleyway.

He looked back at her over his shoulder at her slightly retreating form and smirked. His physical speed slightly outstripped hers and he was used to darting around to escape from the many thugs that used to come after him. Fighting wasn't always the best option after all.

Ichigo pulled away from her and slipped around one of the shacks, weaving through corners until he found himself in a more open area. He cursed to himself before deciding to switch his method of escape.

Azumi arrived just in time to see him hop up onto one of the unstable roofs and saw his orange hair disappear over it. She rolled her eyes and changed direction, heading back as she felt the reiatsu she had been waiting for.

Ichigo grinned to himself as he felt, with his slowly improving abilities, her reiatsu slow behind him. He would have thought she could go for longer but she might just be bored of chasing him, after all, he was going to run for as long as he-

His thoughts were cut off as he felt his legs get knocked out from beneath him.

"Argh!" He shouted and ungracefully fell from the roof he had been running across. He landed face first in the dry dirt, his arms spread out besides him uselessly and his haori, again, dirty.

"I'm sorry Ichigo, I really am, but Rukia told me to fetch you." Ichigo rolled over and scowled up at the guilty looking Nel who had just caused him to fall off the building.

"Why you, and how did you get me." Ichigo interrogated, irritated at hiving been taken out so effortlessly by the former espada. Nel knelt down besidehim and proceeded to look him up and down for injuries.

"Never mind that, are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?" Ichigo's eyes softened at the child-like guilt in her voice. Nel was strange like that; she was cool and sophisticated whilst still being childish and fun. He always wondered just how it was possible.

Ichigo looked down at himself and brushed himself down before he moved to get up. "Don't worry Nel, I'm fine."

Nel beamed back at him and promptly pulled him into a bone-crushing hug that only she could give, it was like getting a hug from Kenpachi. A Kenpachi with massive cleavage. Ichigo snickered at the thought and Nel pulled away, still smiling slightly.

"Rukia told me to come because I have a lot of experience in controlling my reiatsu and combat, she also knew that you would be able to find her regardless of if she tried to hide it. As for beating you..." Nel deadpanned and gave him a slightly condescending look. "Well, you really should have used your flash-step."

Ichigo smacked himself in the head at his own stupidity. '_How did I forget to use flash-step!' _He mentally berated himself, his hollow and Zangetsu agreeing with him. Groaning again he looked at Nel and frowned.

"I suppose I have to go back with you now." Nel nodded, then seemed to consider something and replied to him.

"Yes, although Rukia did say that you could always continue to try and run away, however she would ask her brother to redecorate the 5thsquad barracks." Nel didn't see what was so bad about that, but Ichigo shuddered at the thought.

Rukia's idea of decorating to spite him and make herself happy would only mean one thing...Chappy. Sighing in irritation, Ichigo trudged towards her and nodded in acceptance. "Fine, then we better get back."

Nel widened her eyes slightly in surprise, not sure how he had given in so easily when before he had been adamant about escaping. But taking the opportunity, she smiled back at him. "Good, I didn't want to hurt you."

Ichigo glanced at her and returned her smile before he started flash-stepping back towards his angry Lieutenant. Nel followed him after a moment and caught up to him as they drew closer to the temporary base they had set up whilst they were here.

* * *

><p>Rukia smirked to herself as she felt Ichigo's reiatsu draw closer. She knew sending Nel had been a good idea, she may be completely loyal to Ichigo, but she wouldn't object to something if she thought it was in his best interest. Of course Nel wouldn't hurt him, but she would do the task she had been given.<p>

She looked around at the door as it opened, revealing an irritated Ichigo and a slightly guilty looking Nel.

"You didn't have to send her after me you know." Ichigo grumbled, a scowl firmly in place on his face.

Rukia just shrugged and pointed to the papers on the makeshift desk. "Maybe not, but you're here now. I suggest you do what you've been trying to escape."

Ichigo scowled down at the papers. Not just a few, but a great stack of files overflowed on the table: the work that had just arrived from the Seireitei after its long trip down the south district. He could deal with some...but this was just ridiculous tohis mind.

"Come on, look how much there is! It's not ourfault if they couldn't get it here faster and besides-" Rukia cut him off with a glare and spoke coldly to him.

"Nii-sama made sure that this was escorted in utter safety, it was always going to take a long time for this work to get here. You just chose to ignore it until now." The only thing Ichigo picked up was that Byakuya was responsible for his pain, at least in his mind.

He growled to himself and cursed the Kuchiki. "Damn Byakuya, I swear I-" Rukia once again defended her brother by throwing one of the files at him and stopping his insult.

"Insult him again and I will go and make sure the rest of the squad are ready rather than help you." Ichigo weighed up the options in his mind, of course Rukia won.

The Captain rolled his eyes and sat on one of the boxes they had to make-do with. "Whatever, we need to get this done before we move out tonight." He looked over to Nel and frowned at her. "Sorry Nel, this is going to be a bit boring unless you wanted to go and train with Azumi."

Nel shook her head and gracefully sat against the wall besides the door. Before Ichigo could question her she pulled out a book from her robes and flicked it open.

"Where did you..." Ichigo started, causing Nel to look back at him with a raised eyebrow. Ichigo shook his head and turned back to his work. "Never mind."

Nel looked back down at her book and Ichigo at his work. Rukia waved a hand towards two thirds of the pile and spoke. "These are what you have to get done before we start the attack; if this corruption goes as far as I think it does then we will have to return to the Seireitei to request a proper investigation into all of the districts."

Ichigo nodded and silently hoped that it wasn't as bad as that. "Right so...I suppose we should get to it." He said in an unenthusiastic tone and Rukia gave a small smile.

"I know it'sbeen a while for you, so how about a deal." Ichigo looked over to her curiously and raised an eyebrow.

"A deal? What kind of deal?" Rukia blushed slightly and leaned closer to him, lowering her tone as she spoke.

"If you get this done quickly then we can spend some time together before the mission." Ichigo frowned and looked back at her, unimpressed.

"But we are already spending time together." Rukia resisted the urge to slap her head, that would be undignified. Instead she smacked the back of his and flushed in anger and embarrassment.

"Use your head you fool!" Ichigo thought about what she said and his eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh...OH!" His own cheeks turned slightly red to match hers. They had precious little time alone to...explore their new relationship. In fact, for the last week or so they had actively avoided it because neither of them knew how to progress. If Rukia was offering then Ichigo wouldn't pass it up in a hurry.

"We better get started then." Ichigo mumbled, grabbing the nearest pen and opening one of the folders.

Rukia smiled to herself whilst Ichigo got absorbed in the work; partly because she was happy to see that her offering had worked at all, and also because now she knew she had another tool against him if she needed it.

'_You got lucky there, Rukia.' _her Zanpakuto chimed in, causing her to blush again ever so slightly. It was true she hadn't planned it at all, she had just said what was on her mind to get the work done quickly because she wasn't too thrilled with doing it either.

She pushed the thoughts aside and focused on her work, avoiding thoughts on what would happen after it.

~_A few hours later~_

Ichigo slumped over in his chair as he finished, the pen he had been using slipping from his fingers. It had been a while since he had done any paperwork and he had forgotten how mind numbing it was, even the thought of time alone with Rukia had ended up drifting from his mind as the monotonous ink took hold.

Now he rubbed his eyes with a hand to wake himself up. "Man, I forgot how much this stuff drags on." He said to no-one in particular, momentarily forgetting Rukia who was sitting close to him in the cramped working conditions.

"It's because you're not used to it after avoiding doing it for so long." Rukia responded monotonously, with a hint of amusement in her voice. Ichigo blinked back at her and remembered she was here. Nel had left about half anhour ago to read outside, as she claimed it relaxed her more.

Ichigo scowled as he registered her response. "Hardly my fault, besides I don't see you getting it done any quicker."

Rukia rolled her eyes and pushed the folder before her to one side. "I finished about when Nel left, I've just been waiting for you." Ichigo groaned and dropped his head onto the desk in response.

"Thanks for telling me midget, I might have got it done faster if I'd known." Rukia glared back at him but shrugged her shoulders.

"It's not my fault if you can't pay attention**. **Is it Ichigo?"Ichigo just raised his head to scowl at her in response for a moment.

The pair remained glaring at each other until Ichigo suddenly remembered why he had wanted to finish so badly in the first place, aside from paperwork being a hassle. He leant forwards towards her and she looked at him questioningly. "Fine, whatever, I'm done now. So are you, so that means..."

Rukia blushed as she caught on to where he was going but still nodded and connected her large, violet eyes with his burning amber ones. She hadn't been thinking this much when they had kissed before. Shewasn't sure what to do now.

Ichigo leant towards her slowly, almost timidly, to get as close to her as he could. She moved her own head towards him and both stopped mere inches from the other, their short breaths meeting between them.

"Ichi-" She started, suddenly wanting to break the tension between them somehow. But she was cut off asIchigo gently pressed his lips to hers. She didn't move as her mind tried to figure out what to do, Ichigo was similarly frozen as he waited for Rukia to show some reaction.

Finally Rukia's mind remembered their first kiss and she pushed back against his lips with hers. They burned with the new sensation and she felt her face heat in excitement, she closed her eyes in bliss at the feeling and moved her head to theside so she could get more if it. Ichigo followed her. Eventhough he had started it, she seemed to be in control somehow.

He smirked internally '_We can't have that' _gently he lifted one hand to her face and tipped her head further, making the blush on both their cheeks deepen. Rukia's cheeks tingled at the intimate contact and she reached blindly for Ichigo's body to bring him closer. She could taste him and she wanted more somehow.

Tentatively, she poked her small tongue into his mouth in search of more. As she touched his tongue with hers Ichigo's eyes widened and he, ungracefully, fell back in surprise and left the startled Rukia leaning over the desk towards him.

"What-" She asked dumbly before she managed to compose her thoughts and touched her fingers to her lips with a soft smile. '_That was softer than before' _Compared to the passionate kiss she had more time to actually feel it, and she liked it. That wasn't to say she wasn't embarrassed and sporting a blush that would make Renji's hair look dull, but she couldn't deny she wanted to try it again, nor would she want to deny it.

Ichigo's mind was equally frazzled; they had used tongues before just after they found Hisana but he hadn't been thinking then. When he had just been kissing her his mind had been running as fast as it could so he could figure out what he was supposed to do next, he was so concentrated that Rukia's innocent exploration had startled him.

The result was his current position on the floor, with a few files and papers strewn about from his fall. "...Don't say a word." Ichigo mumbled, already seeing the mocking expression on her face and the fire of amusement in her eyes.

"Was it really that good?" Rukia asked with a smirk on her lips. Ichigo growled back at her and, once again (he seemed to be doing it a lot recently), pushed himself up from the ground.

"Shut up, I was...concentrating." Rukia let out a peal of laughter at how innocent he looked. His cheeks were red and she could see the beat of his heart bouncing his chest up and down from here. She wasn't faring any better but it was always good to laugh at Ichigo.

Rukia tried to slow her breathing and responded. "On what? What was so important?" Ichigo looked up at her curious eyes and flushed face and couldn't have stopped himself if he wanted too.

It came out in a mumble. "...on...you." Rukia let out a soft, gasp, barely loud enough for her to hear. She hadn't been expecting that and now her face was once again lighting up like a fire.

She tried to remedy the situation awkwardly. "G-good then." She stammered, trying to keep her voice level.

She mentally berated herself for feeling so nervous around Ichigo. She was closer to him than anyone and she wouldn't let, as strange as it sounds, this relationship stop that. Rukia didn't want to feel this awkward around him...she needed some help, why couldn't she just accept she wanted to hold him and kiss him.

The silence was broken as Azumi walked briskly into the room.

"Captain, I...am I interrupting something?" She asked, looking between the red faced Captain and Lieutenant, papers carelessly around them.

Ichigo blinked and looked over to his 4thseat, noticing her for the first time. "Uh, no. What is it Azumi?"

Azumi raised an eyebrow and again looked between the two before she shook her head slightly and did what she had come to do. "Captain, Lieutenant: we have received information from the returning squad members about the location of the rogue shinigami."

Ichigo nodded and Rukia started to pay attention, pulling out of her own thoughts. "What do we know?" Ichigo asked.

Azumi responded by handing him a piece of parchment with a map on it. Certain areaswere circled, including arrows and lines, Azumi bent over it to explain. "The circles are the entrances to the base that we know. They appear to have converted an old, rudimentary sewer into a base using technology from the Seireitei. The arrows show the direction the tunnels lead from what we have been told, giving us a rough idea of the size that the complex is. I have prepared the area by evacuating it for the meantime."

Rukia's eyes widened as she analysed the map and she looked up to Azumi. "This can't be accurate! If it is then they are using nearly half of the district, what could they need that much space for?" Azumi nodded her head grimly and looked back at Ichigo.

"I'm sorry Captain, but we couldn't find out exactly what they were doing. The closest we got was one young guard we took out beforehandwho said something about, "Keepingthe filth where** t**hey belong"." Ichigo's eyes narrowed and both women could feel his reiatsu start to rise, Rukia could feel the anger embedded in it as it started to flow forth.

The Captain closed his eyes after a moment and calmed himself down, '_Just wait, we'll stop this' _he told himself. "Right, so that's what it is. Bastards..."

Rukia caught on to what he meant and her eyes widened in horror. Azumi looked between them and frowned. "What?" Rukia shook her head in disbelief and Ichigo's scowl just darkened.

"You know what this means Ichigo..." Rukia asked softly and Ichigo nodded his head. Azumi wrinkled her nose in irritation at being left out of the loop.

"What is it?" She asked, getting desperate to know what was so bad that it had her Captain and Lieutenant almost at a loss for words.

Ichigo looked at her and she was slightly shocked by the coldness of his eyes. "If that's what he said, then what we witnessed in the 67thdistrict; the poverty, the stolen supplies and the abused women, that was..." Ichigo trailed off for a moment and she saw his eyes light up with anger. "...that was a way to control the district, to _keep _them poor. They are not only making money but making sure that no one else can make it."

A stunned silence followed in the wake of Ichigo's explanation. Azumi couldn't fathom why someone would do this, to corrupt the afterlife to such a great degree, and for what?

Ichigo scowled down at the map and pointed to one of the entrances. "I will enter here," Hemoved his finger and motioned to the other two. "Rukia and Nel will be at these two. We will each have one officer with us and a unit of unseated members. The rest of the officers and shinigami will surround the district in multiple circles and wait to see who tries to scurry away."

He looked over to Rukia and she nodded in agreement. "Yes, we want to make sure none of them escape." Ichigo turned back to Azumi and pondered over the officers they would take.

"Right, well forget that earlier plan then. Uh, let'shave Azumi, Katsuo and Yasu since they cover a good range of power. Yasu can go wit-" Before he could say, Rukia cut him off with a sharp tone in her voice.

"Me." Ichigo raised his eyebrows at her but she didn't budge or tell him why. He just shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

Azumi on the other hand had to hide a smirk from her superiors. '_The Captain really is clueless.'_She thought to herself in amusement. She had heard the possessive tone in Rukia's voice and remembered Rukia's reaction before when Katsuo had said she was checking Ichigo out.

'_And what about those red faces?' _She again thought to herself. When she had first walked in wither of them could have lit up a dark room with the blush on their face. Clearly something was going on between them now. '_About time.'_She idly mused.

Azumi wasn't a gossiper by nature and didn't really care about the private lives of others, but when it came to her Captain and Lieutenant...let'sjust say they were entertaining, as long as you didn't get caught in the crossfire.

She spoke up to ease the tension between the two. "So that leaves me and Katsuo, to go with you or Nelliel." Ichigo nodded and inwardly cringed when he thought of putting Katsuo with Nel. Katsuo was the equivalent of Keigo in terms of pervertedness, in fact he was probably closer to Kon. The only difference was that he was also incredibly lazy so was much more likely to just comment on something rather than try and molest Nel.

Then again, maybe she would be able to keep him in line. "Eh, let Katsuo go with Nel and you can stay with me, I'm sure Nel will be able to handle him if he tries anything. Maybe she'll be able to beat something good into him, though she's not exactly the violent type. I'd rather have you as company anyway."

Azumi looked over to Rukia and caught the Lieutenants eyes along with the flash of warning in them should Azumi do anything to what was _hers_. Azumi dipped her head slightly to Rukia so she knew that Azumi understood her loud and clear.

Rukia saw the slight movement and felt slightly happier that there was one less person she would have to worry about. She would have had more of an issue if it had just been Ichigo and Azumi, but there would be a unit of men with them too so she felt more at ease. That didn't mean she was okay with letting someone who had wanted to look at Ichigo be close to him, she would make sure she got the message across.

Ichigo noticed the small exchange between the two and decided not to say anything. If Rukia wanted to tell him she would, otherwise he would get kicked by the icy feel of her reiatsu. He sighed and held out his finger for a hell butterfly. "Right, we should start this as quickly as possible so we still have an element of surprise."

Rukia snorted and looked over to him. "I think your reiatsu and the shinigami running all over town will have tipped them off somewhat." Ichigo scowled back at her and waved a hand in dismissal.

"Wellthey don'tknow when we will be there so the less time they have to prepare the better." Rukia nodded her head in agreement and watched as a hell butterfly landed deftly on his finger.

Ichigo concentrated for a few moments and then it went on its way. "Right, I've ordered everyone to gather here." He pointed at a location on the map that was a small, open plain in between two of the entrances. "So let'sget going and I'll tell you the plan when we get there."

Azumi bowed slightly and walked out of the room to gather any shinigami who were near them and take them to the gathering point. Rukia turned to Ichigo and raised an eyebrow. "You have a plan?"

Ichigo just scowled back at her. "I can think of one on the way." Rukia wanted to smirk back at him but instead rolled her eyes and walked out ahead of him. He was always so hot-headed and it made her laugh, though he had gotten better since he had been in the Soul-society, before he wouldn't have even thought of a plan on the way.

"Well we better get going then, you'll need all the time you can get." Ichigo continued to scowl back until a moment later he realised he was alone in the room. He quickly went to catch up with Rukia and tothink of something that resembled a plan.

* * *

><p>Ichigo and Rukia waited in the clearing until all the members of the squad that were close by showed up. Then Ichigo stepped forward and the idle talk died out. "Okay, this is going to be different from what you are used to." Ichigo started looking over the faces, his own eyes hard.<p>

"We have located the base of the rogue shinigami along with several entrances to it. Myself, Rukia and Nel will be leading units of men along with Azumi, Katsuo and Yasu. Each unit will take itsown route and half of you will be accompanying us inside. The other half will be forming multiple rings around the area to catch any shinigami who try to flee. If you don't recognise them, kido first and ask questions later." Rukia rolled her eyes at that, it was just like Ichigo to have his squad bind anything that moved.

Still, the fact that they were also shinigami made distinguishing friend from foe harder, it was part of the reason Rukia had come up with the list of those going in with them on the way there, the ones that would be easy to remember and suitable at the same time.

"Please split into three groups as I tell you too." Rukia called out, taking over from Ichigo since she had devised the groups.

Whilst she was doing this Nel walked over to Ichigo and leaned into him to speak to him. "Hey Ichigo, how was the paperwork?" Ichigo scowled back at her and she giggled slightly.

"Shut up, how was your book." Nel shrugged and leant back over to stand straight.

"It was okay I suppose, I've read it lots before though. I hope those books back at squad five are good." Ichigo just shrugged slightly, he didn't know what she considered good.

"Well, Shakespeare is considered to be one of the best play writes in history, so you should like them." Nel's eyes sparkled with interest and she eagerly awaited the end of the mission, when she could go and raid Ichigo's books (with his permission of course.)

Ichigo then looked over to Katsuo who was looking at the females in the squad with interest. "Listen Nel, you're going to have Katsuo with you." He pointed at him subtly and she wrinkled her nose slightly.

"Really? Why can't I go with you Ichigo?" He suppressed a chuckled at her childishness but couldn't hold back a smirk.

"You're much more powerful than most of the shinigami here, so you need to be leading a unit. I know he's perverted so if he tries anything don't be worried about teaching him a lesson." Nel frowned and looked back at Katsuo again.

"I don't want to hurt him Ichigo..." Ichigo sighed, Nel was almost the opposite of Rukia who wouldn't hesitate to give him a whack of he needed it. Or if she needed to whack him.

Nel was almost a pacifist, which could make dealing with someone like Keigo difficult. "Well, you don't have to hurt him then, butremind him what family you're in now." Nel blinked as she thought about it then smirked back at him.

No one, especially not someone in Ichigo's squad would want to be the one that tried something with his adopted daughter. "I'll make sure to pass on the warning. By the way, I felt your reiatsu going haywire after I had left. Did you and Rukia seize the moment?"

Ichigo turned red at hearing something like that from Nel, who up until very recently he had treated like a child. She was still like one in some respects, but intellect clearly wasn't one. "I-we, we uh, nothing." He managed to get out in a strangled tone.

Nel just smirked back at him. She knew she couldn't have him, but she would always make sure he was happy, and with Rukia he was. She knew that both he and Rukia would protect her like their own daughter, though she doubted they thought of it that way. They might die from shock.

"Whatever you say, do tell if I'll be getting any siblings." Ichigo's face turned a deeper shade of red just in time for Rukia to walk over, having finished her plan with the squad members.

"You turned him into a real strawberry?" Rukia questioned, causing Nel to giggle and Ichigo to huff.

"Shut up, both of you. Rukia are you done?" Rukia smirked back at him but nodded and motioned to the groups behind her.

"They're all split up and waiting for orders." Ichigo nodded back and looked between them to see if they were ready.

Both nodded back and Ichigo smiled. "Good the, get into position and wait for me to flair my reiatsu, that's the signal to get in. Once we are inside we capture all enemies and meet in the middle."

Rukia stopped herself from smiling at the simplicity of the plan. Ichigo's plans were usually simplified to '_do this, rescue that, leave.' _His plan for Hueco Mundo had been...go to Hueco Mundo and kick ass until he got Orihime and killed Aizen.

'_You can't deny that they seem to work somehow.' _Sode no Shirayuki mused to her. The Zanpakuto didn't particularly like his plans, since Rukia was with him and that meant she would be in danger considering his plans were so lax in her mind.

Rukia scoffed back to her. '_Yes, and usually result in him suffering in one way or another.' _Sode no Shirayuki agreed with her on that. In Ichigo's plans he took as much damage as he could. It seemed like it was part of the reason he jumped in so quickly, just to make sure as much damage as possible got redirected onto him.

'_Have you ever considered that your boyfriend may be a masochist?' _The spirit wondered curiously, Rukia just grimaced and gave her a short response.

'_I honestly wouldn't be surprised.'_The blade had to laugh at that. Of course the list of surprising things about Ichigo went on and on, so a little sexual deviance seemed light considering who he was.

Sode no Shirayuki took the opportunity to tease Rukia about him some more. '_Well be careful then, you might pick up a few things in the bedroom-'_Rukia promptly shut her Zanpakuto off. She had remained relatively innocent to those things over the years and would not get a lecture from her Zanpakuto about it.

Ichigo, meanwhile, was having a much less emotional discussion with his hollow.**"**_**Aww, c'mon King. I could teach them a thing or two, they wouldn't know what hit them! You're too much of a pussy to take them on since they're shinigami."**_

Zangetsu rolled his eyes at the hollow, if he wanted to get his way then insulting Ichigo was not going to help, and the predictable answer from their host followed. '_No, stay in there and be a good horse.'_

Shirosaki scowled at the nickname and damned Ichigo, and himself, for coming up with it in the first place. The analogy had been apt at the time, nowit was getting irritating._**"Fine, fuck you King. I'll just waste away with your pidgeon,"**_

Ichigo's response was short. '_Horses don't speak.'_

Shirosaki cursed as loudly and rudely as he could until finally Ichigo sighed and relented somewhat. '_What about if I use one of your hollow powers, that should shut you up since you'll be able to feel __more of the fighting.'_

The hollow scowled but he knew it was the closest he was going to get and relented, his face shifting into his usual grin._**"Che, fine. Now which one..."**_Ichigo rolled his eyes mentally. He was pretty sure that his hollow didn't have _that _many abilities to pick from but he let him mull it over.

Finally he heard a cackled and his hollow piped up again._**"Right, I got it. Don't try and ask, I'll show you when we're inside."**_Ichigo frowned slightly. It wouldn't be a new ability, it would just be a hollow ability that he had never really bothered to learn how to use since his shinigami abilities worked just fine. He hadn't even tested his mask since he had come back from Hueco Mundo, nor his Bankai.

'_Don't worry Ichigo.'_Zangetsu said in his calming voice, knowing what the hollow was planning. '_Any hollow abilities you use will be a mix of hollow and shinigami powers, a true one this time, so if you ever use it against an enemy and they die they will be purified as if my a Zanpakuto or Kido as your hollow abilities now only exist __as__extra__abilities from your true power.' _Ichigo relaxed slightly. Whatever his hollow had planned wouldn't be pretty and Ichigo would be paying close attention just in case, but knowing that his power was all based of his shinigami powers was a relief.

_**"Stop thinking I'm going to ruin things, it's getting windy! I won't kill anyone you pansy."**_Ichigo scowled at the insult but was slightly relieved. He knew his hollow didn't like the bad weather any more than Zangetsu, unless he was the cause, then he laughed about it.

Nel looked between the two silent shinigami with raised eyebrows. She had no idea what they were doing and was happy to see both of them blink after a moment and look around. "Was something wrong?" She asked worriedly.

Ichigo was confused for a moment before he shook his head and smiled. "No, don't worry, Rukia and I were just talking to our Zanpakuto's."

Nel nodded, there were some aspects of being a shinigami she would never get, she hoped that this Urahara person could let her purify hollows with her Zanpakuto, then she could be a real shinigami like Ichigo and Rukia.

"Okay, let's get moving wait for my signal and...keep safe." He said the last part softly and seriously, so much so that Nel couldn't resist pulling him in for a quick hug before she sonido'd over to her unit. "You too, Ichigo, Rukia." Was all they heard before she left.

Ichigo blinked then looked over to Rukia who smirked back at him. "Don't even think about it, you can have a hug _after." _Her cheeks grew red at the statement but she forced herself to try and hold his gaze. She failed and ended up looking with interest at the dusty ground. The Captain scowled trying to fight back his own blush and settled for once again running his hand through hers briefly as he passed her.

"Fine, but I'll hold you too it, Rukia." She knew that he was telling her to come back unharmed as she had and she smiled to herself before flash stepping over to her own unit.

Ichigo was then left alone and he turned to his unit and they gathered around him as the other two units moved out. They started moving just after, Ichigo in the lead with Azumi following behind; all three units were preparing for battle.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Another longer chapter for you! Thanks to all who reviewed! You had some good points and were helpful :P Not much to say about this chapter, but here' s your awkwardness xD

**Manga spoilers**

Ichigo's new bankai is badassss! I will be using it, haha, though I will be editing it slightly to remove some of the straps, since he doesn't have them in shikai in my story :P

Hope you liked this chapter! The arc is nearing its conclusion now! Prepare for more epicness :P and shower me with more reviews, I love it so much when you do!


	30. Roots of corruption

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Ichigo landed moments before Azumi and the rest of the unit, who dropped to the ground besidehim and looked to him. They stood besidea rusty door frame that looked out of place in the predominantly wooden area, it seemed to be holding on by a thread.

"Azumi, are the others in place?" Ichigo questioned. He still sucked at sensing any reiatsu unless he was in Bankai or it was Rukia's.

His fourth seat was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Yes Captain, all units are in position."

Ichigo smirked and turned back to the rusted gate, itching to give the shinigami who had defiled Rukongai a taste of his mind. "Right then, let'sdo this."

He punctuated his statement by letting a large flare of his, sealed, reiatsu billow around him. The Captain then kicked the door down into the dark, stone staircaseand pushed into enemy territory, his squad close behind.

They found themselves in a dark, wide tunnel and Ichigo almost shuddered at how reminiscent it was to the passages of Las Noches. It wasn't an experience that he wanted to relive at the moment. Frowning into the dark he turned to whohe presumed was Azumi.

"You got any Kido that could help with this?" Ichigo could performsome very basic spells himself, but they tended to...blow up. Not necessarily in his face, but he had to concentrate to get his spells to actually work. And that was the Hado, it wasn't even worth thinking about Bakudo, he would need more work with the restraining spells if he ever wanted to use them successfully. Even after all his lessons with Rukia and his new, more controlled reiatsu, he still found it difficult.

In response to the question, Azumi grinned in the dark and stepped forward slightly. She moved her arm back and shouted out a chant. "Bakudo 62. Hyapporankan!"

Ichigo was surprised to hearher use that particular spell, but her reasoning became clear as the rods separated on their way down the path. The glowing white rods had split at her command and now lined the corridor like glow sticks.

Ichigo smirked and started moving forward once again at a jog, with the unit in toe. "Good job, I've never seen it used like that before."

He was surprised to see her face redden slightly in response and she mumbled him a reply. "It was my favourite spell after I mastered it in the academy and I...used to use it to get across the lake we had." Ichigo raised an eyebrow, curious as to why she hadn't just jumped onto the air and walked over the lake, but he didn't reply. Azumi rarely becameflustered, so clearly that was a memory she didn't need him bringing up as they ran to the enemy.

That didn't mean he would forget to ask about it though.

* * *

><p>The atmosphere in Rukia's group'stunnel was frosty to say the least. Yasu was getting the odd glare from her Lieutenant and she could feel that her reiatsu was cold and hard. She wondered what exactly it was that she had done to deserve this from the usually kind woman.<p>

Her answer came when Rukia gave her a short warning that might have made her run away if they were not in a tunnel and on a mission. The Lieutenant dropped her speed slightly and brought her face close to Yasu's, speaking softly so she wouldn't be overheard.

"I advise that you don't haveany improper ideas about Ichigo." Rukia was gone in the next instant but Yasu hadn't missed the obvious threat from the shorter woman. It wasn't like the 11thseat had been interested in anything more than his looks, but clearly the Lieutenant wouldn't tolerate anyone looking at what was hers.

She stuttered back a response. "Y-yes, Lieutenant Kuchiki." Rukia didn't turn round but she was somewhat satisfied that she had got her point across. She had been restraining herself from doing anything rash, andthat had beenhard enough in and of itself.

'_Maybe others will get the message now too.' _She silently hoped. It wasn't like she was oblivious to Ichigo's vast quantity of admirers like he was. She may be new and clueless about her relationship with him, but she knew one thing.

She wouldn't tolerate anyone trying something with _her _Ichigo.

* * *

><p>The third tunnel echoed with Katsuo's voice as he spoke to no one in particular. "...that was the third time but after that I can't remember anything, whoever that girl was she knew how to take a drink."<p>

Nel grit her teeth in irritation. She preferred that missions remained in a serious tone, to keep the unit ready to fight rather than have them relax and die. Though the small units she had lead in Hueco Mundo were different they all respected and feared her power, andso, stayed quiet.

She could deal with some deviation...but the shinigami's bar stories were not something she thought were appropriate. "Tamaku, quietdown. We are in enemy territory and must be ready for combat."

Katsuo looked at her in surprise and sped up slightly to be next to her. "What's up with you? The young you seemed much more fun!" Nel glared back at him in response.

"I still am! The difference is I know when and when not to relax and enjoy myself." Katsuo rolled his eyes, then eyed her ample breasts with great interest as hemoved in time with Nel.

She noticed and he dragged his eyes up to raise an eyebrow at her. "But there are definitely some improvements over that kid form. Why don't you show me how much fun you can be?" His response was a cold glare from Nel.

"You know, Ichigo told me about you...he also said that he would deal with any problems that you try and cause." Katsuo cringed and dropped back slightly, not wanting to face the significant wrath of his Captain.

He chuckled nervously. "Eh, maybe not then. Didn't mean to offend ya Nel."

She nodded her head curtly then turned back to pay attention to where she was running. Katsuo was nudged by the man besides him and he turned to him.

"You just got beaten by the Captain without him being here." Katsuo just shrugged and looked lazily back at him.

"I'd rather get beaten by him like that than have him with a reason to kick my ass." The man chuckled but agreed with him.

* * *

><p>"Hold it right there!" A voice stopped Ichigo and his unit in their tracks. They looked around to see a shinigami standing at the exit to the tunnel.<p>

"Move it, or we'll move you." Ichigo replied in a bored tone. He wasn't really interested in fighting the guards to this place, he just wanted to shut it down for good.

The shinigami scoffed and pulled out his blade. "Like you could, I used to be the 5thseat of the 9thsquad." Ichigo raised his eyebrows at that.

"5thseat huh. But I don't know how long it's been since you were in the Seireitei." The man just sneered and looked up the orange haired man who stood in the shadowed corridor.

From what he could see the young man didn't look like much, even with the other shinigami from the Seireitei behind him. So he smirked and raised his blade to him, preparing to take them out quickly.

"Whatever, I've never seen you before but I've been out of the loop a long time. Still, you and whatever your little group had plannedare finished here." He took a step towards Ichigo and thenblinked in confusionwhen he realised that the orange haired shinigami had vanished.

"You talk too much. For the record...I'm the Captain of the fifth squad, Ichigo Kurosaki." The man only had time to widen his eyes on shock, then he felt a pain on the back of his head and everything went dark.

Ichigo scowled as he looked back at the man, then over to Azumi. "Can you do something about him?"

The 4thseat nodded and aimed her hand at him. "Bakudo 9. Horin." A circle of orange energy flared out and trapped the unconscious shinigami. Ichigo nodded and turned back towards the large chamber beyond the guard.

"Right, we don't know how many are in there, so be ready." The squad five members behind him nodded and followed him as he turned and walked towards the entrance.

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly as he stepped out of the hall, unit behind him. The base for the rogue shinigami was not what he had been expecting; there was a massive stone hall surrounding him, fading into darkness at the top.

"How they hell did they make this without anyone noticing?" Azumi just shrugged in response. She didn't really care how they did it, but it was insulting that they had been able to do it, insulting to her pride as a shnigami.

Ichigo shook his head slightly in irritation and squinted into the darkness. Vague outlines of some buildings stood out in the inky black and Ichigo motioned his unit to follow him. "C'mon, let'sgo clean this mess up."

They nodded and a few saluted at his command, before he started flash-stepping towards the buildings. Ichigo wasn't travelling that fast, he had gotten a lock on Rukia's reiatsu and was trying to make sure he arrived at the same time as her. He didn't doubt Nel, who was more experienced than either of them in squad combat, would be doing the same thing.

It didn't take them long on the dark trail to reach the settlement, the strange thing was thatno-one seemed to be around. Ichigo's hand was itching to pull out Zangetsu but there was no sign of life around the surprisingly well-built wooden structures. He didn't slow his unit until they reached the centre of the area without having seen a hint of movement.

"What the-" Ichigo growled out, not in the mood to play about with his enemies.

Rukia and Nel joined him with their own forces soon after, both looking around the area with confused faces. Rukia walked up to him and huffed slightly in annoyance.

"Well this is unimpressive. I mean I have no idea how they made this unnoticed but I was expecting a greater resistance." Ichigo shrugged and looked around, his expression shifting to his usual scowl.

Nel walked up between them and looked around at the massive stone walls. "Whoever built this must have some serious funds, and power come to think of it." Rukia looked over to her and nodded in agreement.

"I agree, Nii-sama could have something like this built, but he has access to the Kuchiki funds. I don't know many families that have access to that kind of money." Ichigo continued to scowl and crossed his arms.

"Bah, Byakuya's got too much money." Rukia flicked her head round and glared at him.

"Don't say that like you need money. I happen to know that you barely use any of the money you get for being a Captain." Ichigo glared back at her and poked her in the chest angrily.

"What! Who told you that, Rukia?" She just deadpanned and looked back at him as if he were an idiot.

"You did you fool." He _was _anidiot.

Nel giggled at that and rested her arm on Ichigo's shoulder. "Your memory isnot very good Ichigo. Maybe you should get that checked out, either way you should get me some more books if you've got spare money." Ichigo scowled and turned his head away from Nel, also ignoring Rukia as he mumbled an excuse.

"Shut up, I have spent my wages on stuff. It's just been stuff for Ru-" He stopped himself and blushed deeply as he realized what he had been saying without thinking.

But it was too late to take it back. Rukia widened her eyes slightly in surprise and embarrassment, as Nel gave a gasp and pulled Ichigo into a bearhug. "Oh Ichigo! That's so romantic, don't you think Rukia!"

Rukia just blushed and stuttered slightly as she was suddenly in the spot light. "I-Well, N-no it's stupid. The fool should be buying things for himself, I earn enough and unlike him I am a Kuchiki with access to their funds if I need it."

Nel just rolled her eyes and ruffled Ichigo's hair. "Deny it all you want, your face tellsa different story." Ichigo scowled and tried to untangle himself from the busty woman who was squeezing the breath out him.

"Well, I must say you're the most non-threatening Captain they could have sent." A voice made them all freeze and look about.

"Show yourself!" Rukia shouted out, one hand on her Zanpakuto in preparation. Nel and the other shinigami mimicked her, each reaching to grab their own blade. Ichigo's hand twitched but he didn't react aside from pulling himself away from the, now focused, Nel.

A loud chuckle reverberated around the stone hall and the voice responded. "A Kuchiki? Well I didn't expect that, last I heard you weren't even a seated member." Rukia scowled, as did Ichigo.

The owner of the voice suddenly appeared before them in the street, a number of rogue shinigami also joining him. Ichigo walked to the front of his squad and looked over the man.

"Can't say you look like much either." The man in question had short black hair, but with a long strand hanging down over his ear, He was wearing a modified shihakusho, with some strange, red shoulder pads and a guard on his right arm.

"How dare you speak as if you are equal to me! You are unworthy to carry the title of Captain of the fifth squad!" Ichigo raised his eyebrows slightly. Was this the leader? He almost reminded him of Byakuya, though Rukia seemed to have been slowly changed since he had been in the soul-society.

He didn't get a chance to respond as Rukia was the one who did it for him. "Are you a fool? Ichigo saved all of the soul-society from Aizen! How can you call him unworthy." Rukia was more than angry, she was seething. She knew exactly what it felt like to have people look down on you because of where you came from, the Kuchiki family had drilled that into her.

Ichigo didn't expect her outburst and looked over to her in surprise, the shinigami just waved a hand in dismissal. "I don't have time to listen to your ravings, you _fake_. I am here to put a stop to you, my master will not allow this operation to fail." Rukia widened her eyes slightly. It had been a long time since anyone had called her that.

"So you think you guys can take out a Captain, Lieutenant and third seat along with a few other officers just like that?" Ichigo asked incredulously. He was use to enemies overstating their abilities, but this was ridiculous.

The man gave a sinister chuckle and looked mockingly at them. "I didn't expect to get this much attention, we must be more careful in the future. Now to answer your question, there is a reason none of us are standing _there_" As soon as he finished his sentence they felt a massive spiritual energy coming from above them.

They looked up in shock and Rukia realized what it was in horror. "Ichigo, it's a Kido cannon!"

Ichigo didn't know what that was, but it didn't sound, or look, good. His suspicions were confirmed when a massive explosion shook the room and he saw a blinding yellow energy explode from above them.

"Cast off your fear, Zangetsu!" He shouted into the roar, pulling Zangetsu out and preparing to step into the path of the blast and block it. But he was already too late and the blast to close, his eyes widened as the torrent of energy drew closer to the ground.

But it never hit.

Ichigo saw the beam stop and hold at head height from the ground and looked around to find out what had saved them. He knew the instant he caught sight of a waterfall of flowing green hair. Nel's mouth was opened wide and her entire body was shaking as she absorbed the beam's energy, but it wouldn't be enough.

Ichigo could see her body start to shake with the strain already and he acted to make the best of the precious time she had given them. He brought Zangetsu up and his own reiatsu sky rocketed as he focused on the unpractised move.

"Gesshoku!" He shouted against the din, his blade lighting with black fire for an instant.

The large black disk tore into existence above Nel, much bigger than when he had used it to protect Rukia. Streaks of red licked at the edges and played around the curved shield as it absorbed the attack, rippling with the effort.

His actions did not go unnoticed and a few of the rogue shinigami jumped towards him whilst he was concentrated on maintaining the disk and letting Nel recover. The Arrancar was still shaking and he could see her body twitching and convulsing slightly as she stood, had Kido not agreed with her?

He cursed through gritted teeth as he saw the black forms approach him. They never reached him though, and he heard Rukia shout to him. "Keep focus Ichigo, we'll handle them!" Ichigo growled and nodded.

Rukia and the other officers swiftly moved into action, with the other members quickly following their lead.

Azumi fell in next to Rukia, blocking an attack heading for her. She countered and slid her sword up the blade towards her opponent before he pulled away. Rukia flashed behind him before he could escape and slashed her own blade across his back. He fell quickly but a crowd of others quickly took his place.

Rukia looked around then spun her blade in her hand. "Dance, Sode no shirayuki!" the white blade sparkled in her hand and she sliced it towards a few of the shinigami without hesitation.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro." A large pillar of ice erupted from the ground but it was cut short by the fluctuating ripple of energy above where Ichigo was holding off the Kido cannon's attack. However it managed to catch a few enemies in the original attack and incapacitated them. Rukia turned her attention to the rest on her side and swung her blade towards the closest one.

She deflected the frenzied attack that the man tried to defend himself with, parrying the blade down and knocking him out swiftly with the hilt of the blade. She felt a reiatsu approaching from the side and flash-stepped back before the blade could pierce her side. With a growl of irritation she engaged the opponent, winging her blade in wider circles to disable him by slicing his limbs.

He defended quickly, backing up as she mercilessly attacked him, refusing to let her touch him with her blade. Rukia quickly got irritated and noticed the other shinigami approaching from behind, so she stabbed mercilessly and caught him in the stomach. He spat out a strangled gasp and a few drops of blood followed, but Rukia was already gone as she took on the incoming shinigami.

Azumi saw her Lieutenants actions and followed her lead. She surprised her opponents by sliding her blade back into her sheath as she said the release command. "Stamp, Airon Metsubo!"

The blade and the sheath belted on her hip melted and formed into a dark, silver liquid that coated her legs from the knees down. The back of the guards were coated black like a normal Zanpakuto, a few of the men just sneered at her and one of the women looked disappointed.

"That all you got sweethear-" His insult was cut off by her metal coated foot which connected with a resounding crunch. The surprised shinigami was launched off his feet away from the fight as Azumi landed with the clang of metal.

She was instantly assaulted by the remaining members who swung at her wildly in revenge for their comrade. She concentrated and dodged the blades, sidestepping and weaving around with her heavily armed feet bouncing on the floor. She brought her foot up high to blockan attack, following it with a spin around to knock out yet another rogue foot soldier.

She landed and jumped up before the other shinigami had time to react, bringing her foot down heavily on the shoulders of the previously disappointed woman. She jumped off as more opponents started to charge in her direction.

* * *

><p>Ichigo gritted his teeth as the kido cannon started to build in power against his shield, the ripples becoming more pronounced on the curved surface. He didn't want to have to go Bankai, not when he had no idea what would happen, but the amount of reiatsu that had been poured into this device was astounding. '<em>They must have planned this for a long time, the only way they could have done this is by putting in spirit energy <em>_every day.__' _He growled and flared his reiatsu against the assault.

"Ichi-" Nel gasped out and he looked over to her in worry. She was standing, shaking and he watched her for a moment until there was a sudden burst of reiatsu around her. He understood as she glowed with pink energy and it almost engulfed her.

Ichigo pushed another burst of reiatsu into his shield and it flared with energy, the shield growing darker and denser. Nel raised her head to the temporary black sky and violently opened her mouth, a pink glow already bursting from her mouth. The ball grew rapidly and quickly exploded out of her mouth, shaking the hall of fighting shinigami.

Nel's signature attack burst through Ichigo's shield, the large disk of spiritual energy shifted and seemed to orbit around the collision of the two massive attacks. After a second, it swirled around and merged into Nel's attack, lining her attack with a blood red reiatsu flaring with darkness. The Kido attack held it off briefly before the more powerful attack tore the yellow beam to shreds and collided with the cannon whichwas mounted on the celling.

The room shook again as the reiatsu dispersed in a concentrated beam through the hole left by the Kido cannon, letting a ray of light into the darkened hall. The fighting ceased as a large amount of smoke and dust drifted across the area.

As it cleared it revealed, a still-standing,Ichigo holding up an unconscious Nel. He looked down at her and frowned. '_It must be because it was Kido not a Cero, I'm surprised she could.' _He heard a chuckle and looked around angrily to see the armoured shinigami from before looking down on him with contempt in his eyes.

"Oh dear, it looks like the scum haven't learnt their place yet. That was an interesting ability though, she looks like an Arrancar. That you would even associate with her just proves how low class you are, barely more than a traitor who got lucky." Ichigo didn't respond as Rukia flash-stepped over to him and looked over the exhausted Arrancar.

"Rukia, can you take care of Nel for a moment?" Rukia looked up at him after she heard his cold tone. Her eyes met his and she saw the cold anger that he was restraining jut by standing there. She nodded and shifted Nel from his shoulder to hers, gently laying her onto the floor.

Ichigo looked back at the armoured shinigami and walked closer to him, so therewas none of his squad between him and the shinigami. "This has gone on too long, I need to finish this."

The man just laughed out loud at the statement. "What? You going to use that pathetic Bankai of yours? Scum like you can't touch me or my master!" Ichigo just raised his hand, stretching out two fingers towards him.

_**"That's right, time to show you how to use that lovely power you have King."**_Ichigo listened to his inner hollow for once, this time allowing Shirosaki to teach him the flow of power he needed rather than Zangetsu. His hollow's influence faded from his body and mind as he looked at his target, aiming just behind him. A red ball started glowing at the tip of his two fingers, five separate trails of reiatsu being drawn into the 's eyes widened, as did others, as they easily noticed the attack that they had associated with the enemy for so long. However the armoured shinigami did not.

"Oh, you going to try Kido now? Some Captain you are, using that weak rubbi-" He was cut off by Ichigo's one word command.

"Cero." He barely had time to widen his eyes in shock as a massive torrent of red energy exploded in a beam from his fingers. It missed him by inches as it soared over his shoulder, colliding with the surrounding stone wall and exploding ina large, dome shaped explosion. Ichigo was glad that Azumi had evacuated the area before the assault, though the clean-up would be a mess. There was now a large hole in the ceiling, though it seemed to be in a largely unpopulated area by the small amount of wooden debris that fell down.

"Now give up." Ichigo said, lowering his hand and Zangetsu slightly. The armoured shinigami blinked in surprise and stepped back slightly, awed at the explosion of unexpected power from the Captain before him. Captain or not, he didn't expect this.

"W-what are you? That was a hollow attack!" Ichigo rolled his eyes and flash-stepped up to him, his blade still lowered.

"Clearly you weren't exactly well prepared, your master isa bit dim." The effectively beaten shinigami spluttered and reached for his own blade.

"H-how dare you! He is a noble, unlike you commoners." Ichigo scowled and shouldered his large blade.

"Whatever, who is your master." The armoured shinigami hesitated and looked around in fear.

"W-why would I tell you? Besides, he would have me killed!" Ichigo removed his blade from his shoulder again and pointed it at the scared man. '_His loyalties don't seem to go far considering.'_

_**'What'dya expect? Just a pansy noble, I would love to make him squeal...'**_Ichigo shuddered slightly at the wistful tone at the end of Shirosaki's thoughts, pushing him away for the moment.

He scowled and pulled the reiatsu out ofhis blade, dropping out of shikai. "Look, whoever it is, I can protect you. You will still be tried by Central46 for allthe damage and ruin you inflicted upon Rukongai, but I will protect you from your master."

The man shuddered and moved close to him, lowering his voice to a whisper. "I-it's..." He looked behind him to Rukia, then lowered his voice even more. "...Shichiro Kuchiki."

Ichigo widened his eyes in shock and pulled back. "What!" Rukia was quickly at his side and looking between the two.

"What is it, Ichigo?" The Captain frowned and replied in a growl.

"The guy whose doing this is...a Kuchiki." Rukia's own eyes widened as she looked with horror at the servant of the Kuchiki who had told them. Her own family had been involved in this, she knew the Kuchiki clan could be arrogant but this...this was corruption beyond anything she had ever seen.

"W-what?" She took a step back in shock and Ichigo drew closer to her in an instant. He slipped his hand into hers and felt her squeeze it within seconds. She might not show it, but he could see how much this was affecting her on the inside.

The man looked around nervously again before he spoke. "Y-yes he is an elder who wants to keep the scum where they bel-" Ichigo cut him off by knocking the man out with a swift punch in the centre of his face.

He sighed and looked down at Rukia's conflicted face. "Rukia...I-" She shook her head to stop him and attempted a smiled.

"Don't worry about it Ichigo. Let'sjust get the job done." Ichigo frowned and tightened his grip on her hand.

"Listen, don't get all mopyon me now. We've just madelife better for everyone in Rukongai, sure some old Kuchiki was responsible, buttell me who the head of the Kuchiki clan is?" Rukia looked up at him with surprised eyes, wondering where he was going.

"My brother is the head of the clan." Ichigo nodded and looked away scowling because of what he was about to say.

"Right and, as much as I hate to say it, Byakuya's not the same massive prick he was. Hisana came from Rukongai and he would never condone what is being done here, despite the rod up his ass." Rukia looked away from him for a moment, not wanting to meet his fierce eyes.

"Fool, I'll make sure to pass on your criticisms to Nii-sama." He let out a chuckle and put his spare hand on her head to ruffle her hair. She scowled up at him in response, trying to stay angry at his alluring, kind face with his stupid orange hair blaring out at her from just over his eyes.

Their moment was interrupted by Nel and Azumi, who walked up to them; Azumi with raised eyebrows and Nel practically squeaking at the tried to pull away, his face already turning red. In his haste he forgot that Rukia's and his fingers were entwined and only succeeded in pulling Rukia onto him and knocking them both onto the floor.

"That's got to be the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Nel practically screamed out, drawing the attention of all the shinigami in the area. The Captain and Lieutenant flustered on the floor, Rukia eventually untangling herself from Ichigo and pushed herself up from him.

"You idiot, can't you not make a scene for once." She shouted angrily, desperately trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

Ichigo ruffled his hair and pushed himself onto his feet, shrugging his haori up. "Damnit, don't you lot have clearing up to do?" He waved his arm at the bodies of unconscious shinigami that were littered around the room. Ichigo crossed his arms and scowled at nothing, wondering what to do with the large mess they had managed to create.

After a moment'sthought, he turned to Azumi, who was still looking between him and Rukia. "Azumi, do you mind watching over the clear up? I'll send a message to squad two to come and pick up the rogue shinigami. Rukia, Nel and I are going back to the Seireitei, we have to report this along with some other business."

His tone gave no room for argument and Azumi nodded without question. Rukia and Nel however weren't as compliant. "Ichigo, what are you doing? We're not finished here yet." his Lieutenant asked, Nel backing her up moments later.

"Rukia's right Ichigo, we need to stay here." Ichigo waved them both off and started to walk away from them towards the hole in the artificial celling.

"We don't need to stick around for this, a third of the squad that remained in the Seireitei is here, along with a few officers. We're going to make sure the rest of the zones get the same treatment, along with a meeting with Urahara." He flash-stepped away before either of them could argue some more.

Rukia huffed and followed after him, Nel just behind her. Both following Ichigo's trail as he left the epicentre of the corruption that had crippled the Rukongai districts for so long.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtonguesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) There's your fight scene, I don't know if you like it or not but that's the best I could do :P Sorry if this is short, I have to go to school literally now, but I needed to upload this first -.- So ask me anything you're not sure about haha.

And btw, if toy haven't already...fucking read chapter 476 now! No explanation, just do it haha, just what we've been waiting for :3 well maybe an overstatement, but it's good hah. Reviews plx! I will try to reply to them all.


	31. Forget me not

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Ichigo dictated his message to the hell butterfly that had landed on his finger. He kept it short and to the point, after all it was going to the second squad Captain and she wasn't known for her patience. If he sent her a long message and irritated her he didn't want to know what she would get her damned squad to do for training.

"Ichigo, what are you doing? We should assist in the clean-up of the mess you made." Rukia shouted after him, arriving a few meters away from him.

Ichigo just rolled his eyes and sent the butterfly on its way. "The other members of the squad can do it just fine without us, Rukia, we've got more important things to do." Rukia glared back at him, stalking up to him as Nel arrived.

"That's not the point! You're supposed to set a good example to the rest of squad." Nel walked up besides Rukia and looked between them curiously.

"Not that I mind not staying behind, but where are we going?" Ichigo turned back around to answer her, but was interrupted by a small hell butterfly fluttering between them.

Ichigo scowled when it landed on his nose and both Rukia and Nel started laughing at the ridiculous image of one of the most powerful men in the soul-society looking so...cute. The message was delivered to all of them out loud, with Ichigo's scowl only getting deeper as he heard the voice emanating from it. 'How the hell did he know we were done?'

"Well, it seems you finished up therefaster than expected. Now I think it's about time you come and see what I've got planned with your lovely Hisana. Ichigo should get a location with this message, unless of course he is busy with the delectable Ms. Kuchiki-" Ichigo cut the butterfly off by shouting at the thing perched on his nose.

"SHUT UP! How can you be such a pervert from so far away?"Nel and Rukia could only laugh as they watched Ichigo try to shut up the perverted ramblings of the thing on his nose without hitting himself in the face.

However, they continued unabated for some time, Ichigo shouting back at every remark. "...and that's why I can understand if you are enjoying your time with your girlfriend, having had plentiful experienceswith fine females myself. However, I really think you should be here and I think Ms. Kuchiki would agree."

With that last remark the butterfly finally departed from Ichigo's nose. Rukia and Nel were hunched over by laughter at this point, having had front row seats to Ichigo's rant at the unfortunate insect on his face.

He turned to them with a scowl and a face flushed with embarrassment. "Both of you two can shut it too."

Rukia just stood straight and smirked back at him, Nel still laughing at Ichigo's expense. "Well you brought it on yourself by shouting at a hell butterfly, fool."

Ichigo snorted and turned away to calm himself down. After a few moments he turned back to Rukia and ran his hand through his spiky orange hair. "Whatever, Midget. Now if your quite done I believe your sister is waiting." Then he looked over at Nel, who had a hand over her mouth, trying to smother her laughter.

She saw him and managed to reign in her amusement. "I-I'm sorry Ichigo, it's been a long time since I've seen something that funny."

His expression softened as he thought about her previous life and he sighed, his earlier anger fading away. "Forget it Nel, let's just get going."

Rukia gave a small smile and walked a little closer than was necessary to Ichigo. Ichigo was a little surprised by her sudden move and looked down at her wide, anxious eyes. Rukia herself wasn't sure why she suddenly needed to have some comfort from him, but she didn't question it.

"Will she be okay Ichigo?" The Captain knew she was talking about her sister and he gave her a reassuring smile, then ruffled her hair in his hand.

"Of course she will midget, don't worry yourself. Short people can't feel toomuch or they might explod-" She cut him off by batting his hand away and crossing her arms, glaring at him.

"I'm not short! You're just freakishly tall, with that stupid orange hair, you're just like a lighthouse." Ichigo glared back at her and crossed his own arms to match hers, leaning down over her.

"Oh yeah? Well why don't you come up here and say that then, wait, you can't!" Rukia responded by elbowing him in the stomach to make him bend over, then grabbing his head and pulling it tobe level with hers.

She smirked at his surprised face and closed the gap between them to inches before she levered her gaze with him and he gulped unconsciously. "What was that, Strawberry?"

Ichigo was torn between wanting to pull away, and the need to argue back with her so he didn't lose. Either way, he didn't like the mischievous glint in her eyes but he ignored it and scowled back at her.

"I said you're too small to argue back." Rukia narrowed her eyes and pushed slightly closer to him, a brilliant idea suddenly springing into her mind.

With their new relationship camenew opportunities to torture Ichigo.

"Well then, I suppose you think I'm too small to do anything...interesting." She raised her hand and ran it over his cheek, changing the position of the hand she had pulled his head down with so it was entangled softly in his hair.

She was blushing at her own actions, trying to mimic something similar she had seen Rangiku do once. Rukia hoped it was working, because she was finding it difficult to act so forward...even though she had to admit, it didn't feel bad being this close to him.

Needless to say, it was working.

Ichigo could barely register his own breathing and hoped that he was breathing enough to keep himself alive. Even that thought was buried under a mountain of thoughts about Rukia's close proximity, he could see every detail of her face, her warm hands running over his skin felt so good. Her soothing massaging of his head was almost enough to send him to sleep, he even felt his eyelids drooping and his back sloughing slightly.

Rukia was amazed that he was so responsive, he was like putty in her hands, she could feel his reiatsu start to grow softer and start to drop into his sleep-state. It was changing from the raging torrent into the warm embers of a home fire. The Lieutenant smiled to herself and allowed herself a few moments of peace with the man she... 'The man I love.'

She thought serenely, not that she was planning on telling Ichigo any time soon. The mere thought of it made her more nervous than shehad ever felt in her life. Pushing that thought away she ignored her embarrassed, shy thoughts and leant forward to place a soft kiss on Ichigo's nose. Why the nose?

Because she could

The Ichigo was barely awake when he felt her lips brush his nose, and couldn't bring himself to care really. He did however, care when she moved out from beneath him and he almost fell on the ground. Again.

"Eh, wha...Rukia!" He shouted at her, partly to cover up his own embarrassment. She just looked away from him to hide her own blush.

"You said we've got work to do, I don't want you forgetting where my sister is. Since you obviously can't keep your mind on the task, did you also forget about Nel?" Ichigo looked over to the green haired Arrancar and rubbed the back of his head guiltily. He had forgotten they had company whilst Rukia's ministrations had lulled him so far towards sleep.

Nevertheless,he scoffed back at Rukia. "Of course I didn't, and I know where Hisana is! Let'sjust go, Nel you ready?"

Nel looked up at him and smiled widely in response, nodding as well. "Yes, I'm ready when you and Rukia are." Ichigo turned back to Rukia and Nel let her smile fall the smallest bit. She may know exactly where she stood in relation to Ichigo and she was happy with that, she honestly was. But that didn't mean she couldn't feel the minuscule twinge of envy she did feel, so small it wasn't even jealousy.

Her smile grew slightly as she remembered just how close she was to Ichigo, literally the closest possible after Rukia. That was more than enough for her, she even got to see Ichigo happy with Rukia, and Ichigo happy was all she wanted for him.

Ichigo scowled down at Rukia and then looked out in the direction that Urahara had told him to go. "Hat-and-clogs said that if we can get to some building he owns then he has some sort of fast travel or something. He said he will be able to use it on us when we get there, then decided to stay in my head rambling about the brilliance of his Kido, on top of all the perverted stuff you heard."

Rukia rolled her eyes and looked over to Nel. "We're ready Nel, we just have to hope Ichigo knows where he's going."

Nel deadpanned and looked over at Ichigo. "Judging by your efforts in Hueco Mundo, I won't be holding my breath." The orange-haired Captain looked away from both of them for a moment before he just grumbled something about evil shinigami women.

"Whatever, let's just get going, I hope you keep up." He smirked back at them before he vanished from their view, causing both of them to exchange a look. Moments later they took off after him, trying to catch up to the speedy shinigami before them.

* * *

><p>Urahara hummed jovially to himself as he tinkered with the small device in his hands. He had been playing with it for a long time, so long thathe was confused as to itsoriginal, and current, purpose. Nevertheless<strong>, <strong>he continued to play around with the components as he waited for Ichigo to turn up with Rukia. Yoruichi was lazily curled up on the bed in her cat form, her clothes lying around her like padding.

The scientist blinked and looked up at the sound of his teleporter being activated, a grin spreading across his lips as he saw three figures walk out of the room, smoking slightly.

"Urahara, what the hell was that, and why are you over there?" Ichigo questioned, scowling at Urahara. He just chuckled and walked over to peer at him from under his hat.

"Ah, Ichigo, that was just a little device I made, completely harmless of course. I set it to activate automatically after I got here, since you would only have got in with my instructions and if I allowed it." Ichigo continued to scowl back at him, but decided notto press the matter. If Urahara was going to say it was safe he would have to trust him, despite how his guts were nagging at him.

Rukia stepped forward and looked around the darkened room. It looked exactly like she would picture Urahara's room, messy, covered in mechanical parts and strange devices and slightly gloomy from the lack of light. A mad scientist'sparadise.

However, she saw no sign of her sister. "Urahara, where is she?" She didn't want to call Hisana her sister yet, she knew that was why Urahara wanted her but she didn't want to hope just yet.

Urahara looked down to her and closed his fan. "Oh yes, the lovely Mrs. Kuchiki, she's just in the next room, awaiting the arrival of the last member of my little experiment." She looked back at him with confused eyes, but he didn't elaborate.

Rukia tried to get some more answers out of him. "Who else is coming, and why do we have to wait for them?" Urahara considered answering her, very briefly. Then he caught sight of the Arrancar behind her and his eyes all but sparkled.

"Who do we have here? Is this the same Arrancar from before, little Nel?" Nel blinked back at him, not sure what to say to the man who was moving towards her. She had seen him before and remembered that the man was...eccentric to put it nicely, a weirdo to put it more accurately.

"Yes, I'm the same Nel. This is my true form, but I don't know how long I can hold it." Urahara circled her like someone inspecting a piece of meat, his eyes shining with interest. He even went so far as to pokethe Arrancar with his fan, causing her to glare down at him.

Urahara looked up at her when her felt her angry reiatsu and flipped his fan out again. "I'll have to look into that for you, rest assured that you will be able to maintain this form when I'm done. In fact I'll send for you after we finish up here."

Nel's eyes widened and she moved closer to Urahara in wonder. "Y-you can do that?" The scientists shrugged and looked down when he felt something at his feet. Yoruichi was pushed up against him slightly and looking up with her large, yellow eyes.

"Yes I can't see it being too difficult if I have access to you for some time. However, we'll have to discuss this later, because it seems my last guest is about to arrive." As he finished his sentence they heard the teleporter fire again and saw the flash of light it produced.

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other, then over to the entrance to the teleporter room, both curious as to who his final person was. Their answer came a few moments later as a figure emerged from the room, his haori flowing as he walked into the room.

Rukia's eyes widened slightly as she saw him. "Nii-sama..." If Byakuya was surprised, he didn't show it. He coolly looked around the room, his eyes glanced to each of the members before resting on Rukia.

"Rukia." After his greeting he turned to Urahara. "You said that there was an important reason for me to come here through that...contraption. In fact you assured me that this was well worth my time, considering my sister and Kurosaki are also here, I assume there is a good reason." Yoruichi walked out of the room and Urahara sidled up to the elder Kuchiki, putting his arm around the man.

"But of course my noble friend, I have obtained something you lost a long time ago. Something you have wanted back I would guess, even if it seemed impossible." Byakuya raised his eyebrows at Urahara, getting slightly confused. He wasn't aware that he wanted anything, so what was the scientist talking about.

Before Urahara could confuse the man more Ichigo stepped forward. "Yo, Byakuya, hat-and-clogs said that she's just in the next room." He raised his eyebrows at that. 'She?'The older Captain looked between the two, there was something different between them, Rukia seemed to be glancing at Ichigo more than usual.

He mused over it as Urahara lead them through the underground complex, had something happened whilst the two had been in Rukongai. He had noticed the connection the two shared like everyone else had, and he had nothing against the younger Captain, in fact he respected him a great deal. However, he wasn't going to give up his sister easily and he wasn't the only one that might be an issue should a relationship arise.

"Here we are, I trust this is worth your precious time, Kuchiki." Byakuya frowned slightly and walked past Urahara into the room he had stopped at. There was a table with two figures, it was with some irritation that he saw the Shihoinprincess standing next to the table. However when he looked at the table and his eyes took in the figure all other thoughts drained out of his face.

"Hisana..." His expression grew slack and for once his emotions showed through the Kuchiki mask. His hands were limp by his side and the room filled behind him, he didn't even turn to them as Byakuya's eyes remained locked on his wife...his dead wife.

She was supposed to be dead, how could she be here, she couldn't be here. No matter how much he loved her she was dead, they had their time together, he had wanted it to last forever. But nothing could. So how was she here?Urahara walked up next to the man and Rukia stood on Byakuya's other side, watching her brother tentatively.

Nel looked into the room but didn't follow, instead deciding to wait outside and amused herself in another way. She noticed piles of papers in one corner of the room and padded over to take a look at them, curious to see if there was anything interesting to read.

"Nii-sama, it's really her." Byakuya finally moved, looking over to Rukia and into her honest violet eyes. It really was her then.

"...How?" He asked to anyone who could answer, his voice surprisingly hoarse. His composure could wait for now, Hisana had his undivided attention.

Urahara answered him, put a hand on his shoulder and pointed his closed fan at the unconscious body. "Well I'm sure you know how spirits are reborn, you just happened to get lucky. Hisana died so early because of that illness and then it looks like she died again pretty quickly too." Byakuya looked coldly back at him for implying that this was lucky, Urahara raised his hands back to defend himself.

"Aha, I didn't mean it like that." He laughed nervously, Yoruichi rolled her eyes at how badly Kisuke could be in a delicate situation. Not that she was much better.

"Chin-up little Byakuya, it seems you've got your hands on a second chance with her through sheer luck." Byakuya only spared her a glance before he turned his attention back to his reborn wife.

The room was silent for a moment, Ichigo and Rukia watching him alongwith Yoruichi and Urahara. Eventually he spoke again, his voice slightly softer than usual. "What about her memories Urahara. Souls don't retain them after they die in the soul-society, she will only remember her human life.

The entire room, bar Yoruichi, was surprised when the scientist actually laughed at this. "Of course, ofcourse. But I think that being so cold may have frozen your brain Bya, because you wouldn't have happened to forget who you were talking to would you?"

Byakuya just looked at Urahara blankly. "You are Kisuke Urahara; the ex-Captain of the 12th squad and now a lowly shop-keeper in the human world."Urahara waited for him to go on...but the elder Kuchiki didn't say anything else. After another moments silence of the room looking at Urahara he gave a sniff and pouted.

"That's it? That's all you can think of, not even the man who eluded capture for over a hundred years? Not even-" Before he could go on to list everything that he had done, whichthe shop-keeper thought deserved recognition, Yoruichi cut into his speech. Shedidn't doubt he had rehearsed in his mind at some point.

"Give it up Kisuke, clearly you're getting old if people can't remember you." Urahara pouted back at her before he flipped his fan back out and waved it in an attempt to amuse himself.

"Once again you show your cruelty. I suppose I'll have to remind you of something more recent then Bya. I am the man who developed the Hogyoku. Do you think I would have brought you here without a reason, to see your beloved, or do you think I might know what I'm doing?"Ichigo was surprised to hear the slight edge that rung at the end of his speech. But it was gone the next instant as Urahara walked over to the machine next to Hisana's prone form.

"Here is my baby, it was a difficult birth I'll admit, what with her being so large and all. This is the device that will solve all your problems with Hisana! Unless you have any in the bedroom, then I would recommend something els-" He stopped when he saw Byakuya's cold glare piercing him. How he wished he could continue, but it probably wasn't the best time to play with the Kuckiki's frayed emotions.

"What does it do?" Rukia wondered, looking at the odd, tangled mass of wires and metal. There was a strangely shaped device directly above Hisana, with multiple prongs emerging from it. It had a string of wires on either side which connected to two large rods which seemed to be fused to the floor.

Urahara smiled smugly as someone asked the question he had been waiting for. "Well little Ms. Kuchiki," She shot him a glare at the insult, which he ignored. "This device requires the participation of two other souls with a connection to the first, preferably with some spiritual pressure or I would have to artificially draw out some. They both push it into the collectors on the right and the left of your sister and then, if the bond between you is strong...your sister will regain her memories."

Rukia's eyes widened in shock and she felt her knee's get slightly weaker. Ichigo had been watching her closely after Urahara's announcement and put a hand on her shoulder. She felt his hand and for a moment wondered how it was so warm, it felt like he was on fire and it was streaking over her, giving her strength.

Byakuya didn't show a reaction to the words, he was frozen because of them. It took a couple of times of him recirculating the words in his mind before he could completely register them, and their significance. 'Hisana...could you really come back to me? You can finally have your wish of finding Rukia.' He looked over to her when he thought her name.

He noticed Ichigo's hand on her shoulder and the caring look in the **boy's** **eyes;** he had seen them reflected in Hisana's every time she had coughed. Hisana would have wanted her sister to find happiness like she had with him, she worked tirelessly to find her and now she deserved to see what she had missed.

"Do it." Byakuya spoke before he had removed his gaze from Rukia, his voice soft, but steeled with determination. Her head snapped to his in surprise and she caught his eyes, Rukia saw the pain that swirled in them for a moment, in that instant the Kuchiki mask was gone from his face.

She looked at Urahara to see his response. The shop-keeper grinned and tipped his hat backwards. "In that case would you Kuchiki's be so kind as to step over here."

Rukia turned slightly to Ichigo and gave him a reassuring smile, he returned it briefly before he removed his hand from her shoulder. Almost hesitantly she made her way over to the metal rod on the left side and stood beside it, looking to Urahara for guidance. The shop-keeper however, had his eyes on her brother.

Byakuya stood still for a moment, before finally moving over to mirror Rukia's position besides Hisana. "What now?" He asked, without looking at Urahara.

Urahara giggled like a schoolgirl, getting strange looks from everyone in the room, before he walked over to the controls on the wall. "Would you Kuchiki's please raise your reiatsu without touching the collectors, just stand where you are and let itflow out of you."

Following his instructions, they let their spiritual pressure flow out of them, creating similar white aurasaround the two of them, long arms of energy winding around the room. Urahara didn't even blink as they did as they were told and moved his attention to the controls. His hands moved over the, seemingly random, collection of buttons, tapping precisely and quickly as he calibrated the machine.

Suddenly the loose reiatsu of the Kuchiki siblings was draw towards the two metal rods, the white energy flowing to the top of the ordinary looking poles. Urahara continued his work on the keyboard for a few seconds longer before he stopped and looked between them, grinning.

"Now your spiritual signatures have been imprinted onto the machine and we can really get her going. You wouldn't know this, but you unconsciously imprinted Hisana with your reiatsu, seeing as she has very limited one, and this is what will hopefully allow us to pull those lost memories back through the void." No one commented, so Urahara continued. "The only way you can do that is by giving her something to associate with them, a memory or an emotion. Your strongest one of her, to be that spark that fuels the return of her lost ones."

Rukia looked at him, worried. 'What do I do? I never even knew my sister, I don't have any memories of her.' Before she could ask the question, Urahara answered her. "Rukia, since you were **too** young, think of the family bond you share with Byakuya. It's the closest thing you'll have to her own longing to find you."

Rukia nodded and pushed memories of her brother to the front of her mind: Byakuya adopting her, the joy she felt in Hueco Mundo, his hidden actions to make her happy, most of which she never knew about until someone told her. Despite everything, she would always love him as her brother, and thank him for finding her.

Byakuya was doing something similar, bringing up all the old memories he had with his wife that helped him in his darkest hours. Their first meeting, the courtship that was hated so much by the elders, her soft voice and unwavering love, for both him and her sister. Her mischievous smile and her loving one, every moment with her was precious to him. He poured it; the love he still felt for her, into his reiatsu.

Urahara felt both of their reiatsu and shrugged internally 'Seems good, better than I hoped.' A look down at the monitors confirmed his calculations, from a scientific standpoint they were ready. It was up to them now, and the strength of their bond.

"It's now or never!" He called out cheerfully, and poked an orange button on his keyboard with his closed fan, his eyes watching the scene with excitement.

Nothing happened for a moment and Ichigo wondered if something had gone wrong, looking between Rukia and Hisana. His fears vanished moments later when the device mounted above Hisana exploded to life, the multiple prongs retracting into it and the machine glowing with white energy.

Then it screamed.

Ichigo jumped at the noise and looked down at Hisana, whose mouth was open as a strange, high-pitched wail erupted from her. Both Kuchiki's eyes also flew to her, but the noise was gone the next instant, and Hisana slumped back onto the table. Ichigo looked back up to the machine, which was still glowing, but no longer vibrating with force. After a few more seconds of tension it the machine whirred to life for a final time, humming loudly as white energy blazed out of the markings etched onto it.

Again Hisana screamed, but this one was quieter and more natural than the first, lasting only an instant before she fell silent once again.

Suddenly the connection between Rukia, Byakuya and the collectors broke, Rukia stepping back slightly at the force of the relieved tension. The machine above Hisana also stopped glowing and hissed as if it were in pain, before it unexpectedly shot the prongs that had been pulled in back out, flinging them over the room. There were only four of them, and Ichigo was the only one in danger as he had to duck to avoid having the sharp object slice into his head.

'Must remember to kill that pervert.' Ichigo thought to himself, glaring back at Urahara, who ignored him in favour of peering down at Hisana curiously.

No one moved. The tension in the room could have been snapped by a speck of dust floating from the ceiling. They were all looking at Hisana, waiting for a sign of life, and Urahara was preparing to run on the off chance he had made a mistake.

"...Hnnn" Hisana gave a small moan and Urahara mentally congratulated himself, ignoring the fact that it was premature right now. The real test was yet to come as the woman on the table tossed and turned a few timed before she finally opened her eyes to the gloomy darkness of the room.

Hisana pushed her eyes open with great difficulty, they felt heavy, as if she had been asleep for a long time. Her back ached and her throat felt hoarse just from that one sound she had made.

'Where am I..I remember...what do I remember?'

She tried to get her bearings, her eyes still adjusting to the darkness. She remembered something bright orange, something purple, something pink, something...something. Her eyes finally started to adjust and she caught sight of a figure to her left, an imposing, tall figure.

"Wh-I..." She tried to get some thoughts out, to find out who this was and why she was here. Her eyes adjusted more and she was able to see his face, grey eyes, a beautiful face...bangs of hair hanging in those familiar places.

Memories rushed back in an instant.

"B-Bya-ku-ya..."The Captain's eyes widened as she said his name.

It had worked.

He bent down to her and, ignoring the others in the room, cupped her face in his hand gently. Urahara released the bindings remotely but no one noticed as all eyes were on the reunion of the two lost lovers.

"Hisana, is it you?"She looked back at him lovingly and smiled back at him, lifting her own arm with slight difficulty to brush her hand across his cheek in a mirror of his actions.

"Of course it is, who else would it be." Her voice was soft and hoarse, Byakuya made a quick mental note to have a word with the ex-Captain about his methods. Something along the lines of 'Scatter, Senbonzakura.'

That thought was forgotten quickly as he pulled her into an embrace, image be damned. Hisana had always managed to break his mask without even looking at him, this was too much. He had her back after fifty years of hopelessness, of self-imposed exile from most social engagements.

Rukia watched the scene and felt her hear swell with emotion. She had never seen her brother so open and, well, emotional before. She was so caught up in watching her long-lost sister and her brother that she almost jumped when she felt a hand touch her, which was hanging at her side. She looked up to see Ichigo, his face looking lighter than normal and his eyes practically irradiating her with warmth.

She slid her small hand into his larger one and felt him squeeze hers, smiling slightly as she returned it. Rukia waited with Ichigo until her brother had finished his moment with his wife.

Hisana frowned slightly as she pulled back and looked at Byakuya, his eyes seemed to have a haunted look to them, and his face seemed sharper than she remembered. What had happened to him. "What's wrong Byakuya, you look like someone died."

He almost laughed at the inappropriateness of her statement, but instead took her hand in his. "Hisana...what's the last thing you remember?"

She frowned again and thought back, remembering some vague images that should have been fresh memories. She concentrated and was rewarded with a flood of recent memories, little did she know they were from almost fifty years ago.

"The doctors, I was in the special room in the mansion, with that nice woman, Unohana. Then...I remember you, you were so sad, the doctors told me I didn't have long. I felt so tired when I was talking to you suddenly, I must have fallen asleep, my apologies Byakuya." He squeezed her hand tightly and she was surprised to see the raw emotion blazing in his eyes.

Byakuya didn't know how to explain this to her, how to tell her she had died fifty years ago when she had fallen asleep. Luckily for him, Kisuke stepped in and smiled down at the pair.

"What a lovely reunion, but I think I should cut in for a quick explanation." Hisana looked over to the strange man and just blinked at him in surprise. She had never seen him before but he didn't look like one of the people Byakuya was normally with, which was almost exclusively other nobles.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know you." Urahara just chuckled and tipped his hatto her slightly.

"No, I left the soul-society before you arrived, but you'll be told about that later, you've missed a lot in fifty years!" Hisana furrowed her brow, not understanding what the man meant, however, he continued. "You see, when you felt tired all that time ago. I'm sorry to say that you died."

Hisana froze and had to replay the words in her mind before she could speak again. "D-died?"

Urahara just nodded as Byakuya tightened his grip on her hand. "Yes but luckily, or not depending on your view, you've passed on again pretty quickly and had an almost impossibly fast run through the regeneration cycle. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before, but the result is that you are now alive again with your memories thanks to my brilliant machine." Hisana struggled to take it all in and looked over to Byakuya with shock and worry clear in her eyes.

"Fifty years?" Byakuya nodded and she widened her eyes as it started to sink in. She had been gone for so long, what had happened, what had he done.

She looked up at him with questioning eyes and he gave her a small, sad smile. "He is not lying, it has been fifty years Hisana. Fifty years without you, I'm not going to say it was easy, I have mourned your death ever since it happened." She looked up at him, her eyes full of love and sorrow for the man she had caused so much pain to without being able to help it.

All that she could think of was to reassure him that she was back, so she pushed herself up to capture his lips in a sweet, pure kiss of need. She needed to show him what she couldn't say, so many things that would just burst forth from her otherwise. Byakuya reciprocated the kiss was short lived but both were satisfied by it.

Hisana looked deeply into his eyes and rested her head against his. "I'm back now Byakuya, by this miracle we can be together again." Byakuya smiled back at her and allowed himself to just feel comfort in her presence before he pulled away slightly and looked back at her slightly confused eyes.

"I'm grateful for that Hisana and I'm not the only one." Hisana didn't understand what he meant, but looked followed his gaze when he looked away.

Her breath was knocked out of her as she laid eyes on the figure that looked so similar to her.

"R-Rukia..." Rukia smiled back at her, her eyes swimming with emotion.

"Yes Hisana, it's me."

* * *

><p>(AN) And here she is, the woman of the moment :P Hisana Kuchiki is back and, well not kicking but back and smiling I suppose. I don't know if the spacing will be a bit off, something went a bit weird during transit to and form my beta so sorry if it is, ignore this if it isn't xD

I am officially off school now, which means I should finally catch up to were I should have been if I hadn't been getting lazy. Since atm I'm 3 chapters ahead in my writing instead of four, but I will fix that.

Love the reviews as always! Thanks for them and sorry if I couldn't reply because they were anomolous, as all ways I will reply to as many as I can :D Hope to do the same for this chapter hah, see you soon.


	32. The reunion 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Hisana stared in wonder at her long lost sister, the sister she had abandoned so very long ago. She noticed how similar they looked, yet at the same time how different they had become. Rukia's features seemed sharper than her own, as though living her life had changed her. What kind of life had she lead? How far had she come from that baby in Rukongai...did she resent her for leaving her there to fend for herself? Even if she didn't hate her, Hisana still couldn't forgive herself.

"I..It's really you?" Was all she could breathe out, part of her still in denial about the situation.

Rukia just smiled back at her and squeezed Ichigo's hand, before slipping hers out to walk closer to her sister. "Yes. I know it's been a long time, but you look so similar to the pictures Nii-sama has of you."

Hisana looked back at Byakuya, confused. "Nii-sama?" Byakuya, who was attempting to regain some of his dignity whilst around others, nodded back at her and stood at her side.

"After you died I did not forget your last wish. I continued to look for your sister, and eventually found her as Rukia entered the shinigami academy. After I had located her I adopted her into my family in order to keep her safe." Hisana looked up at him with eyes practically glowing with thankfulness and gave him a brilliant, genuine smile.

"T-thank you Byakuya, you have no idea how much this means to me." Byakuya smiled gently back at her and rested a hand on hers.

"You don't need to thank me, I'll do whatever it takes to make you content." Ichigo had to check he was awake, because he never expected something like that to come out of Byakuya's mouth. Maybe Hisana would make Byakuya less likely to murder him with cherry blossoms when he found out about Rukia.

Hisana looked back at her husband for a moment before turning her head back to Rukia. She held her gaze for a moment...before bowing her head in shame. "Rukia, I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you, I don't deserve to be called your sister."

Rukia looked startled at the sudden change in her mood and ventured slightly closer. "What are you talking about, Hisana?" her clone looked up at her, and Rukia was taken aback at the tears in her eyes.

"I left you! I knew I couldn't take care of both of us, and I left you to fend for yourself as a child in that horrible place. That's why I'm unfit to be your sister, and why you should hate me for what I've done to you. You should-" Rukia cut her sister off by pulling her into a hug.

Hisana widened her eyes at the sudden move, and heard Rukia's soft voice in her ear. "I never hated you for that, you made a choice you needed to make and you survived. That's all we could hope for, I know you never forgot me and I never knew you, by the time I knew about you...you were already dead. I got out of there eventually, but I never once hated you Hisana. Nee-san."

Hisana froze indisbelief for a moment, before letting her feelings overwhelm her as she finally responded to Rukia's hug. She held her close and didn't want to let go, her tears seeping into her sisters black robes, but tears of joy. Rukia closed her eyes and smiled at the sensation, and the pure luck of the situation. This was never something she had hoped for, but now she had it she would be thankful for the rest of her life.

After a few moments of the soothing hug, Hisana and Rukia pulled away from each other, and Hisana smiled at her sister. "I'm sure Byakuya has told you about me, so please, can you tell me what you have been doing, it seems it hasbeen such a long time."

Rukia smiled back at her and sat on the side of the bed, Urahara and Yoruichi slipping out of the room. They wanted to watch this from outside...so they could get the details they might not say if they were in the room.

The petite shinigami looked down at her black robes, then back at Hisana. "Well, as you can see I became a shinigami some forty years ago." Hisana took a slight breath in and looked back at her with eyes full of surprise.

"You became a shinigami? Like Byakuya?" Rukia nodded and thought about how to explain the complex sequence of events surrounding the winter war to her sister.

'I'll do it later.' She thought to herself after a moment, no need to throw information at her sister.

"I was an unseated member for a long time..." She shot a look at Byakuya, who ignored it and looked down at Hisana. "But recently I became the Lieutenant of the fifth squad." Ichigo smirked slightly and felt his heart flutter at the undeniable pride in her voice.

Hisana's eyes grew wide and she looked down at the Lieutenant's insignia on her sister'sarm. She had never thought Rukia could hold so much untapped power within her, to get so high within the ranks. "Wow, you must be so strong! If you'rein the 5th squad...does that mean you serve under that Captain A-Aizen is it?" She looked to Byakuya for support.

Hisana noticed that the room grew silent at his name, and Byakuya spoke to her with a hard edge in his voice. "Sosuke Aizen is no longer a Captain. I will explain it to you later since it will be...a long explanation, but for now just know that Aizen, Gin and Tousen are no longer serving the Gotei 13."

She looked like she wanted to press the issue, but she noticed the angry glint in Byakuya's eyes so instead turned back to Rukia. "So, what's the name of your Captain, is he nice?"

Rukia smirked and pointed over her shoulder to Ichigo. "You can ask him yourself, but in answer to your second question...no."

Ichigo scowled as he walked forward to stand besideher. "Why do I keep you around?" He turned to Hisana and introduced himself again, hoping she would remember this time. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain of the 5th squad."

Hisana widened her eyes slightly, not expecting to have another Captain besides Byakuya here. She dipped her head towards him and greeted him politely. "Greetings Captain, you didn't need to come out here on my account." She looked up at Byakuya, then back at him. "Are you a friend of Byakuya's?"

Rukia snorted slightly, but tried to pass it off as a cough when the other three occupants looked at her. Byakuya responded first, giving a slight sigh at Rukia's response to it. "Kurosaki is an...associate of mine. As he is a fellow Captain." Hisana nodded, not surprised that he hadn't called the orange-haired man a friend. She didn't think he had ever really had someone like that before.

She turned her head back to her sister and gave her a curious look. "What about you, Rukia. Is he just your Captain?" She may be frazzled at the moment, but she would have to be blind to not have noticed the interaction between the two of them. Not to mention his eyes had that look in them when he glanced at her sister, always an undertone of caring behind whatever emotions played in front.

Rukia blushed and looked to Ichigo, who was in an equal state of embarrassment. Ichigo tried to formulate an answer through his splutters. "I-uh, we are...uhmm-" He didn't know how to tell Byakuya about this without imminent death, or if he even wanted to tell him.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes and looked at the nervous Captain. "Yes Kurosaki, I too am interested in the exact relationship you have with my sister." Ichigo looked nervously over to Rukia, who had suddenly found that her feet were very interesting.

"We- Rukia and I, uh-" Before Ichigo could embarrass himself further, Rukia's strong voice cut across him.

"Ichigo and I are in a relationship, Nii-sama, we have been since a few days into our Rukongai mission." The atmosphere of the room was frosty as Byakuya stared down Ichigo. He may approve of the boy, but he expected these things to follow the proper channels of courtship.

Ichigo drew strength from the determination in Rukia's voice and glared back at Byakuya, daring him to comment on it. Hisana on the other hand, smiled widely back at her sister. "Really? Rukia that's amazing, I always wanted you to be happy." She turned to Ichigo, who was still glaring at Byakuya. "I hope we can get to know each other well, so I can see the man my sister cares so deeply about."

Ichigo blinked and looked away from Byakuya to the emotional sister, he rubbed the back of his head, finding it hard to be angry under her gaze. "I...yeah that'd be good I suppose." Rukia glared back at him.

You suppose?" Ichigo rolled his eyes and ignored her in favour of returning his glare to Byakuya. Rukia noticed and tried to calm her brother down. "Nii-sama..."

But Byakuya raised a hand to stop her and his response came out, the elder enunciating every word. "Rukia, I can't say I agree with you starting something so suddenly. After all,you are a Kuchiki and we have certain standards we must meet." Ichigo growled and started to interject.

"Hey, listen here-" But he too was cut off as Byakuya continued.

"However, I understand that you were occupied with your mission so could not have contact me about the boy. I also must say that as your clanleader...as your brother, your choice of partner is..." Byakuya seemed to struggle to actually say the words he wanted to. He may say them to another perhaps, or to himself, but he wasn't about to tell the boy himself. "...acceptable."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at him in shock, Hisana with pure adoration in her eyes. However the Kuchiki mask was backon, at least partly,onlyseconds later. "But from now on, you must follow the noble'srules of courtship. Kurosaki, I expect a formal request before you two engage in any of the courtship rituals. Usually, you would be separated before but as you are Captain and Lieutenant, contact is unavoidable." His eyes narrowed as he continued. "However, if I find out you have been inappropriate, the consequences will be...severe."

Rukia smiled and bowed slightly before looking back at her brother. "Thank-you, Nii-sama, I'm so glad you approve of Ichigo." Byakuya nodded and turned to Ichigo, who was looking less thankful. After-all, he had just been told to refrain from physical contact with Rukia, which was exactly what they had started in Rukongai, and he would be lying if he said that wasn't a disappointment.

Rukia glared at him and stamped on his foot in irritation athis dazing. He glared back at her quickly before he responded to Byakuya. "Uh, yeah sure thanks. I won't do anything inappropriate, but you'll have to tell me that that entails." Byakuya nodded and stopped glaring at Ichigo.

"Of course, when you return to the Seireitei I will explain the process and expectations after you put your name forward formally as Rukia's suitor." Ichigo raised an eyebrow at that and questioned him.

"Wait, does that mean anybody could do it, and Rukia would have to date them?" Byakuya shook his head and looked but avoided Rukia's own questioning gaze.

"Any suitors must be judged by me and the Kuchiki elders before they may actually spend any time with Rukia, needless to say none of the men who asked were appropriate or respectable enough for her." Rukia looked at her brother thankfully. This was another little thing that she never knew her brother had done for her to protect her for all those years.

Hisana**, **too**, **was grateful, and pulled on Byakuya's sleeve slightly to get him to look down at her. "I too am thankful that you looked after my sister, like I should have." Byakuya looked away, pain and guilt which he could not hide forming in his, usually stoic, eyes.

"I am unworthy of your praise Hisana, I cannot say I cared for Rukia like I should have." How could he? With the pain of losingHisana still fresh in his mind. However, Hisana just smiled back at him and squeezed his hand with her small one.

"She was not your sister, she was– is, mine. By just getting her out of Rukongai and keeping her alive you have made me more happy than I thought possible, it may have been forty years for you Byakuya, but my love has not dwindled. I will listen to what you have done and will be there to forgive you." Byakuya, despite the time he spent with her, could hardly believe the forgiving and caring nature of the woman before him, and just how she could love him. But she did, and so he loved her.

Rukia felt her heart practically melt atthe scene and looked over to Ichigo, who was looking away in embarrassment. She nudged him and glared at him. "Why can't you be like that, fool." Ichigo rolled his eyes and glared back at her.

"I'm not going to say sorry for your mistakes, besides I don't see you being all forgiving." A vein in Rukia's head bulged as she stepped forward and raised her voice, forgetting the other people in, and outside, the room.

"My mistakes? I'm not the one who charged blindly into battle and swing his sword at anything that moves. I always forgive you, fool. That's why you don't walk around with Sode no shirayuki embedded in yourchest." Ichigo scowled and leant over her, using his tall form to try and keep her quiet somehow.

It wasn't working and she continued to glare up at him with anger blazing in her eyes. "Well I've beaten everyone thus far haven't I?" Ichigo decided to ignored the fact he had actually died three times and been saved by Orihime's powers. "and if you forgive me, why do you keep hitting me you midget!"

Before Rukia could scream at him that she wasn't a midget, Byakuya's cold voice interrupted them. "Kurosaki...Hisana is almost identical to her sister, the height difference between them is about an inch. So if you insult Rukia with that term, you are also insulting my wife with it."Ichigo froze and Rukia smirked as his eyes stayed locked on to her, not wanting to turn around to see an angry Byakuya glaring at him.

'_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..._' Ichigo chanted over and over in his mind, trying to think of a way out of the awkward situation he found himself in, where Rukia was smirking at him whilst he was about to be eviscerated by an angry Captain.

Luckily, he was saved by a tinkling giggle from the bed. Hisana was laughing at the scene, at the insults they had thrown at each other in their heated argument that, by Byakuya's look of mild irritation, was a common occurrence. Clearly her sister had met her match.

All three looked over to her and she pushed her laughterback, holding a hand delicately before her mouth until she could speak. "Well, you certainly are passionate, I'm glad Rukia seems to have found someone who accepts her for who she is. In fact, from what I have seen and been told about Byakuya, you are similar to him when he was young."

Both males blanched at this, and even Rukia looked at her sister in surprise. Byakuya sighed mentally and looked down at his wife, who had amusement dancing in her eyes. Why couldn't he get angry at her? Instead he tried to find the source of the problem. "Hisana, who told you about that."

She looked up at him and shrugged. "Your friend, the Shihoinprincess." Byakuya lifted his head and glared at the door.

"Yoruichi Shihoin." In a flash she was there, popping her head out from where she has been listening whilst Urahara rambled about his work to a vaguely interested Nel.

She grinned and walked into the room. "Yes, little Bya?"

Hisana's eyes widened and she bowed her head. "Oh, I didn't recognise you lady Shihonin. Please forgive me." Yoruichi looked down with amusement and Ichigo snorted.

"You're kidding me right, Yoruichi, a noble?" Yoruichi just chuckled at Ichigo then shot him a wink.

"Ex-noble, no need to stand on formality, I hate that stuff. Besides I was exiled from the Shihoinclan years ago." Hisana's eyebrows raised and she looked to Byakuya for an explanation, but he shook his head slightly. She understood, he would explain everything later.

Byakuya had never told Hisana that Yoruichi had been exiled with Urahara, he didn't want to break her faith in the Gotei 13, but that was unavoidable now with the events of the winter war. He was even more irritated that the irritating woman had made her way back into the Soul Societythat long ago and he had never noticed. "Why did you tell stories to my wife, Shihoin."

Yoruichi smirked mischievously back at him. "Why? But they were only stories about how you were anangry little brat who couldn't flash-step to save his life, and who lost at tag again and again to me. That kind of stuff."

Byakuya sighed, annoyed at how she had avoided answering the question and Hisana giggled slightly at her husband'sembarrassment. Ichigo reacted by scoffing and looking away from them. "Whatever, I'm nothing like him."

"For once, I agree with the boy. Him and I are not, and have never been, similar." Ichigo grunted his agreement, and Rukia rolled her eyes at the pair. Yoruichi just chuckled at the two of them and Hisana sighed.

"It's so nice to have other people with us, don't you agree Byakuya?" The elder Captain frowned as he could hardly agree that he enjoyed the company of others. But he wasn't about to disappoint his wife, who had been missing from his life for so long.

Luckily his decision was made by Urahara who poked his head around the door. "I see you're all settling in nicely, and as much as I enjoyed eavesdropping from afar, I'm afraid that Hisana must take this time to rest and allow her mind to assimilate all of her memories."

Byakuya looked over to him with his Kuchiki mask on again. "For what reason? She does not appear to be having any trouble at the moment." Urahara smirked back at the man.

"That's because they are still fresh in her mind, but to truly recover her memories, she must rest for a few days, maybe a week. Before you can argue Byakuya, she does not need any of my equipment so she can stay at the Kuchiki mansion as before." Byakuya's objection died in his throat and he glared at the man, though it didn't last long because, after all, he had brought Hisana back to him.

Urahara then turned his head to Ichigo and continued. "As for you two, you should probably go and report this nasty business in Rukongai to Yamamoto." Ichigo and Rukia exchanged looks, both knowing that the Kuchiki clan, or at least one member of it, was involved in this plot.

Neither wanted to ruin the moment Byakuya had with his lost wife, so they just nodded and started to leave. Ichigo stopped at the doorway as Rukia made her way to her sister'sside. "I'll come and see you when you wake up in the soul-society, I promise."

Hisana smiled back at her and pulled her into a quick hug. "I look forward to having some proper time with you again Rukia, I have a lot to catch up on." Rukia smiled back at her, before pulling back and standing straight.

"Then I'll make sure to fill you in on everything, goodbye, Nee-san." Hisana smiled back at her and nodded her head.

"Yes, goodbye Rukia." They held each other'sgaze for a moment longer before the two pairs of violet eyes broke from each other. Hisana turned her eyes back to Byakuya, and he rubbed her hand softly. She felt complete, just being here with him and Rukia, who had made so much more of her life than Hisana could have dreamed.

Byakuya's lips drew upwards ever so slightly and he only had eyes for Hisana as his sister and her...partner, walked out of the room to a waiting Urahara.

* * *

><p>Urahara grinned at Ichigo and Rukia as they were left alone. The young Captain looked around before scowling at the shop-keeper. "Wait, where's Nel, hat-and-clogs?"<p>

He shrugged and pulled out his fan to hide his face. "Oh I'm afraid you won't be taking Nel back with you today. I am helping her stabilize her power so she can transform at will rather than being forced to by her limited power in adult form."

Ichigo sighed and looked over to Rukia, who just shrugged. If this was how she stabilized her power they couldn't do anything about it but wait. "Fine, fine." Ichigo grumbled, looking around the room. "So how do we get out of here, Urahara?"

Urahara lifted his cane up and poked the ceiling once with it. Nothing happened for a moment and Rukia looked unimpressed at him. Finally, the white marble of the ceiling opened up, two doors swinging up and letting light into the gloomy room. Urahara didn't waste time after it was open, flash-stepping next to them and grabbing their robes.

"Sorry about this, but I would rather this little place of mine weren't discovered by our friend upstairs." Before either of them could object he threw them up and the doors slammed shut behind them, sealing as if they had never been there.

Rukia landed gracefully on the tile floor, Ichigo...not so much. He cursed as he landed in a pile, his ass sore from the rough landing. Rukia snickered as she looked down at him, but before she could comment a loud shout got her attention.

"What are you doing in my department!" Ichigo and Rukia both turned to see an irritated looking Mayuri Kurotsuchi glaring at them, with his ever faithful Nemu behind him.

Ichigo scowled and pushed himself up, dusting himself off when he was on his feet. "Nothing, uh..." Ichigo sweat-dropped as his inability to remember names once again played up, in front of the crazy 12th squad Captain.

Mayuri grinned as he saw who it was and Ichigo forced himself not to step back from the insane man. "Ahh, if it isn't Captain Kurosaki, are you here to finally be a subject of my experimentation? After all you have that delicious hollow inside you."

Ichigo frowned and waved a hand in dismissal at him. "Dream on you crazy man, I'll never let you anywhere near me with that knife of yours." The scientist sighed and put away the syringe he had drawn without Ichigo noticing. Not wanting to waste any more of his time, Mayuri turned and walked away, shouting a command at Nemu as he left.

"Nemu! Get these dullards out of my department, I can feel my I.Q. dropping because of them just being here. Do it now!" His artificial daughter nodded and walked up to the two confused shinigami.

Before either of them could comment, she grabbed their wrists and spoke in her monotone voice. "Please come with me, master Mayuri does not wish for you to remain here." Without waiting for a response she walked away, dragging the two of them with her.

"N-Nemu please, could you let go of my wrist?" Rukia spluttered out as she fought against the iron grip. Her captor looked back and her eyes softened, almost imperceptibly, and she let go of Rukia's arm.

"Forgive me, Ms. Kuchiki, I know you are responsible so can you follow me to the exit." Rukia nodded and smiled back at her, glad for her time spent in the SWA. Though Nemu was very robotic, she expressed herself in small ways at their meetings.

Ichigo was less than impressed when he continued to be dragged along by the wrist. "Wha- hey! You can't do this to me, I'm a Captain. And how come Rukia doesn't get dragged along?" Nemu didn't look back at him as she continued on her path to the exit.

"You may be a Captain, but this is the 12th squad barracks, so Master Mayuri has the right to request that you leave. I cannot say I have ever met you, so must assume you are not trustworthy. I have met Ms. Kuchiki before so I know she is trustworthy, now please be quiet." Ichigo growled in response and Rukia smirked back at him.

Ichigo was left to be dragged through the corridors of the 12th squad, shooting glares at everyone that even looked towards him. Rukia enjoyed his humiliation as much as she could, it wasn't every day that you got to see your Captain dragged around by a woman after all.

...then again.

Ichigo yelped as he was thrown out of the squad barracks, pushing himself up from the floor for the second time in so many minutes. Rukia walked out after him, sparing him a glance before turning to Nemu.

"Thanks again, Nemu. I'll see you at the next SWA meeting." She just nodded in response and closed the doors behind her as she went back into the building.

Ichigo scowled back at the closed doors as he spoke to Rukia. "So, off to see the old man right?" Rukia nodded and they both disappeared as they flash-stepped back to Yamamoto, sooner than expected. 

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Right, first of all I would like to apologise for the gap between chapters, I usually keep a one chapter week update so I'm sorry that I let it slip so much! The reason is partly my fault and partly my beta's, in addition to an overall laps in communication between me, them and strangly enough. Needless to say it's all sorted and though this is being released on Sunday, normal Friday weekly releases will be resumed. It turned out to be quite helpful to have the rest from releasing tbh, now I am up to date with the chapters I have actually written, I.e I am now four ahead again.

I hope you all had a nice holiday, right now I'm feeling a bit of Bleach drought but since it's starting up as normal next week I hope for some more of the Ichiruki goodness we have been given by Kubo :P Though it should be an interesting chapter regardless.

I hope this chapter lived up to your hoped for the reunion, I look forward to answering the reviews as always!


	33. Paparazzi

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Ichigo was working to keep his eyes from drooping as he finished of the last of his paperwork. He and Rukia had remained in the soul-society after they had reported back to the Captain-commander, and the work pile up was not to amusing. He sighed and thought back to the little meeting they had had with the Captain-commander after they had been thrown out of Mayuri's, barracks.

_~Flash back~_

_Ichigo didn't bother to wait as he pushed open the door to the Captain-commanders office, ignoring Rukia's muttering behind him as he strode into the room. Yamamoto looked up and gave an exasperated sigh at the boys impertinence, he hadn't had to deal with one so young in a long time._

_"I trust you have a good reason for being here, Captain Kurosaki?" He would find another way to discipline the boy later, for now he was curious as to what had dragged him back from his mission in Rukongai._

_Ichigo nodded and reported back to him in a semi-formal tone. "I do. Whilst we helped to clean up the districts, my squad discovered a conspiracy which we believe involved all of Rukongai, or as much as they could control."_

_The old man raised his eyebrows in surprise, after all the boy had only been there for about a month, and already he had discovered something so large."And what is the nature of this supposed conspiracy?" Ichigo scowled slightly at 'supposed' but continued._

_"That the Rukongai districts are being controlled by a member of the Kuchiki family." Silence followed in wake of his statement. Rukia looked down, ashamed that something like this could have come from her family and Yamamoto simply sat still for a moment, processing the information before he opened his eyes and looked at her._

_"Lieutenant Kuchiki, explain." Rukia looked up resolutely, refusing to let this affect her actions as a shinigami._

_"According to his servant, an elder of the families has been manipulating the supplies and...people of the districts, keeping them locked in poverty. It seems he wants to keep the class difference more apparent, so makes the living standards worse for those who should be at peace." Her voice was hard and cold throughout, but it rose slightly at the climax, anger obviously seeping in to her voice as she had to restrain herself from shaking with it._

_Yamamoto closed his eyes and considered this, it was a tricky situation. 'I cannot directly interfere with the noble families, this will have to be up to them'. Coming to his conclusion he looked back up at them and spoke in a voice that seemed to echo with power._

_"We cannot interfere with the noble houses without concrete evidence, which we do not have." Just as Ichigo and Rukia were about to shout in defiance he continued. "So I leave this matter to you, Rukia Kuchiki. The honour of your clan rests in your hands, this is my final decision on this matter."_

_Rukia blinked in surprise as her angry retort died in her mouth, then nodded seriously. "Very well, I will redeem our honour by exposing him."_

_Yamamoto just nodded and turned back to Ichigo. "Captain Kurosaki, both you and your_

_Lieutenant will remain here for the remainder of your mission, you can send commands to your squad but I wish to see them function without your direct presence. This will be a test of their loyalty." Ichigo wanted to say that he trusted each and every member of his squad with his life, but truth be told he didn't know many of them. He didn't know if he agreed with the situation, but it was a necessary one._

_His scowl deepened but he nodded. "Fine, but I trust every one of them to do their duty in light of what we have discovered."_

_Yamamoto nodded and relaxed his face again as he responded. "Very well. Is there anything else you wish to report, Captain Kurosaki?" Ichigo considered the question for a moment before he answered._

_"Well aside from what you already know...Rukia's sister is back and is with Byakuya, I made Nel my third seat since she regained her adult powers aaannndd you may need to get somebody down to the 78thdistrict to get it, uhh, repaired." Ichigo finished he gesture with an absent wave of his hand and ran his other hand through the hair on the back of his head._

_Rukia almost hid her head in her hands in embarrassment, only Ichigo could say so many important things to his superior without any pause or attempt at explanation. Yamamoto just sat there, running the words over in his head, trying to make sense of the pure blasé attitude of the Captain before him._

_"...How?" He breathed out, not really understanding how the boy had done so much when doing a relatively simple mission. He gathered his thoughts after a moment and leveled Ichigo with a glare. "Go back to your barracks Captain, I will deal with you later."_

_Ichigo left without hesitation, before Yamamoto could formulate the lecture that was obviously coming to him, wanting to avoid it as long as he could. Rukia bowed and mumbled an apology to the, still shocked, Captain-commander, before hurriedly following Ichigo. She didn't want to be caught alone with him after Ichigo's blatant disregard for his position._

_That didn't stop either of them from feeling the angry reiatsu that had started to build around him a few minutes later, and both decide that paperwork at the barracks was far more important._

_-End Flashback-_

* * *

><p>Hoping that his lecture would come later rather than sooner, Ichigo added his seal to the last box on his paperwork before he shifted it to his 'completed' pile. Rukia looked over at him from her own table and raised an eyebrow.<p>

"You're done?" Ichigo shrugged and looked down at his desk.

"I've done all that I'm going to do today, finish up and lets go." Rukia rolled her eyes, but nevertheless she too shifted her completed work to one side of the desk and stood.

Once up, she looked back at the two tables. "Why are we the only squad who works like this?" Ichigo assumed she meant the slightly cramped space and shrugged.

"I don't know, if you've got a problem with it them clean out Momo's old room." He wasn't about to say that he preferred having someone to work with. Rukia nodded but she too wasn't that fond of spending hours alone doing paperwork.

Changing topic, Ichigo got up and walked over to the door, waiting for her. "So, can you think of anything to do?"

Rukia joined him and they walked down the hall together. The barracks were emptier than usual as most of the squad was still in Rukongai, the rest were in the world of the living. The odd member was lazing about, since they didn't have much to do aside from admin work. Now that the soul-society wasn't under imminent threat of invasion, the newer and less powerful shinigami had less to do aside from wait for an assignment or train. Neither Ichigo or Rukia noticed the odd looks they got from a few of the members, who had notice that they seemed to be walking closer than was necessary.

Rukia finally answered him as they left the barracks. "Not really, but today is the first so we could go and pick up an issue of the Seireitei communication?"

The magazine had become more popular recently, with its information on the Arrancar and the winter war, after its conclusion, it explained it to the shinigami who were not powerful enough to fight in the war. Rukia's own work on reporting on Ichigo ( the substitute shinigami work diary) had been published earlier in the year, much to Ichigo's irritation.

Ichigo shrugged once again, never having read the magazine himself. "Sure, maybe it will have something interesting in it. Lead the way then." He motioned in front of him, as he had no idea where you bought the magazine.

* * *

><p>His Lieutenant walked slightly before him as they travelled through the winding streets of the Seireitei. Both were becoming increasingly aware of the looks and whispers from the other shinigami, causing Ichigo's scowl to deepen and Rukia's eyebrows to furrow in confusion. Ichigo looked down at her, only to see she didn't know what was going on either.<p>

"Uh, has something happened?" He asked, whilst shooting a glare towards a random group of shinigami. Rukia didn't respond, but started walking quicker to the stall she knew was around here.

Ichigo frowned but matched her speed.

Rukia's eyebrows went up when they reached the stall, noticing the large crowd around it. She knew the Seireitei communication had gotten popular, but she never thought it was this popular. She turned to Ichigo, who was looking down at her curiously again.

"They must have a big story for once." Ichigo looked back at her skeptically for a moment, then she walked over to the stall pulling him with her.

Ichigo snickered as she tried to see over too the stall, pushing herself up on her toes. Hearing the noise, she turned around to glare at Ichigo. He attempted to cover his mouth with his hand but couldn't stop the laughter because of how cute she looked whilst she was craning her head over the taller people.

Rukia got fed up of his laughter and sent a glare his way. "And just what do you find so funny, Ichigo?"

Ichigo smirked down at her. "Well it's not every day you see a shinigami copying her mod soul...hop." Rukia narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could beat sense into him she was interrupted by a loud shout.

"Oh I'm so happy for you two! Rukia, you need to tell me all the details you sly girl." Both of them blinked and looked over to see Rangiku shouting at them from next to the stand, an issue of the magazine in her hands.

They quickly pulled away from each other, both stained with a blush. " W-what are you talking about, Rangiku?" The other Lieutenant just laughed and pointed at the magazine.

"Don't try and hide it now Rukia, your juicy little relationship is just what I needed to brighten my day." Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other, a feeling of dread building up in both of them.

The crowd had parted slightly at their yelling, and they made their way to the stand hoping that it wouldn't be as bad as they thought it was.

It wasn't. It was worse.

Ichigo's eyes widened comically as he looked at the cover; there, in high quality, was an perfect image of him and Rukia...as they shared their first kiss in Rukongai. His eyes flicked to the subtitle, widening as he read it. '_IchiRuki! The long awaited couple has finally gotten together, read exclusively here how the hero of the winter war showed his hidden, romantic side to the Kuchiki princess. Also, we catch up with our contributors and Captains to find out what they think of this new relationship. We also have a histo...'_Ichigo stopped reading and just skimmed the long list of features in the magazine. All related to him or Rukia.

He hurriedly picked up the magazine and flipped it open, praying to whatever god would listen that he would be spared this one embarrassment. Once again fate laughed at him because, under another picture of them in Rukongai, was the speech he had made to Rukia before their kiss. His hands trembled with rage as he read it, his reiatsu alerting everyone within the Seireitei of just how angry he was.

Rukia was still frozen as she looked at the picture. Half of her was as pissed off as Ichigo was at the whole thing, she just wanted a normal relationship with him, or at least one where everything they did would not be monitored by hordes of fans. The other half was embarrassed: partly because of the nature of the picture, and partly because...'_We look really good in that picture.'_

She blushed deeper as she thought that, but it was true. The essence of the scene had been captured well, the fading sunlight on one side contrasted with the rising moon on the other. Both their faces were tinted red with blushes and she couldn't help but be reminded of how perfectly her form fit into his larger one, they looked like two pieces of a puzzle.

After her initial embarrassment and wonder, her rage finally caught up with her and the temperature around her dropped significantly. Rukia ignored Rangiku's squealing as she read the magazine, and walked past Ichigo, who was still shaking with his hands clenched on the magazine.

She caught the unfortunate shinigami in her icy glare and spoke to him in a soft and deadly voice. "Who published this magazine."

The vendor gulped and stuttered under her cold eyes, trying to get out a coherent word. "Well-I, he i-is y-you kno-..." He trailed off and withered under her glare, shuffling away from her slightly. Rukia continued to glare until Rangiku looked up from her magazine at the deadly aura the two shinigami were spewing out.

"Hisagi edits the _Seireitei communication_Rukia, you should know that." She closed her magazine and stored it safely in her robes, the end still poking out, though flattened against her breasts. "I'll take you over there, it's either that or go back to avoiding work."

Rukia would have politely declined but she knew Rangiku would tag along regardless of the situation. Instead she sighed and nodded, before turning to Ichigo and whipping the magazine out of his hand. "Let's go Ichigo, we have to pay Hisagi a visit."

Ichigo looked at her, surprised that she seemed to be so calm. That was until his eyes focused on her and he felt her cold reiatsu swirling around her. His scowl deepened at the sight of her so angry and he nodded as they took off, dust swirling around them as they flash-stepped towards the 9th squad barracks. Rangiku followed them silently, grinning internally at all the chaos that these two could bring when they were angry.

* * *

><p>When they landed, Rukia's anger had already dissipated for the most part, or at least she no longer wanted to castrate the unfortunate 9th squad Lieutenant. Embarrassment had instead taken it's place, and whilst most of her still wanted to teach Hisagi a lesson, the other part just wanted to go and hide . Even her anger was more born out of what could happen because of that picture...in particular that her brother had specifically informed them that they were to abide by the nobles rules.<p>

It wasn't like she was going to if she could help it, but it could bring shame on her family if something this scandalous was made public like it had been. Rukia hoped that Hisana would be awake before Byakuya saw the picture, otherwise there was no telling what he would do.

Though she might get to watch Ichigo run away from him, so it wasn't all bad.

However, Ichigo's thoughts were far from rational at this point. '_I am going to kill that bastard!Him and his crappy guitar playing, how could he ruin my image like that.'_His mind still full of anger he ripped open the door to the 9th squad barracks.

"Where is he?" His angry shout echoed across the complex, the shinigami nearest to him gulped in fear at the irate Captain.

Rangiku took this opportunity to tell him what she had known all along. "Oh, Hisagi isn't here. I felt his reiatsu vanish just after yours and Rukia's got all angry." Ichigo growled and glared at her.

"And you didn't think to tell us?" Rangiku just shrugged and pulled out her copy of the magazine to pick up where she left off.

"You didn't ask me...oh your speech is so cute, Ichigo!" The Captain flushed and looked away, scowling.

"I'm going to kill that bastard when I find him." Ichigo grumbled.

* * *

><p><em>-In a secret location (The squad 3 barracks)-<em>

Hisagi shuddered as he felt another wave of reiatsu with killing intent roll off the 5th squad Captain. That was why he was here, smothering his reiatsu as much as he could, in Kira's room.

His fellow Lieutenant looked down at him from his desk and sighed. "You know you are going to have to face him some time, I told you that you shouldn't have put that picture on the cover."

Hisagi nodded in agreement but didn't move. "I'll leave when he doesn't feel like he's going to kill me and dismember my corpse." Kira rolled his eyes and went back to his work.

"You know Captain Kurosaki wouldn't do that...though he might beat you down." Hisagi looked back at him with fear in his eyes.

"What if he lets his hollow lose on me?" Kira looked over to him briefly, his eyes unreadable. Then he turned back to his work, muttering something back to him.

"Then I think you would have worse than a dismembered corpse to worry about." The frightened Lieutenant shuddered again, not happy with this encouragement.

As he felt another wave of reiatsu pass over him he focused again on suppressing his own.

Macho be damned, he wanted to live.

* * *

><p>Whilst Ichigo was still angrily muttering and walking around the barracks looking for anyone who might know where Hisagi was, Rangiku sidled over to Rukia's side.<p>

"Hey, Rukia, I just remembered that we're late." Rukia tore her eyes away from her entertainment, watching Ichigo be angry, and looked up at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"What are you talking about, Rangiku?" The buxom Lieutenant shoved her magazine back into her robes and grabbed Rukia's arm.

"I forgot that you were away on a mission, oh well. The SWA meeting's today!" Before Rukia could respond, Ichigo appeared next to them, still scowling but less angry having vented it on whoever happened to be at the barracks. '_He'll feel guilty about it later.'_Rukia thought with a sigh, knowing Ichigo would be back here to make amends.

Ichigo however, wasn't going to just yet, and scowled down at her, even as his eyes softened when he looked at her."I don't know where he's hiding...but I'll get him."

Rukia smirked back at him but was cut off again as Rangiku spoke for her. "That's great and I'll be sure to watch when you do, but Rukia has a meeting to go to now. So bye bye, Ichigo."

And just like that, Rukia was being pulled off with her. Ichigo just stared after her dumbly, confused as to what the hell was happening around him. After she had disappeared from sight he snapped out of it and groaned, mumbling to himself as he turned back to the barracks.

"Stupid midgets, can't even help me find Hisagi..." He continued to mutter about the situation as he stalked through the barracks, the 9th squad members leaving a wide berth around him.

The doors to the SWA meeting room burst open, revealing a cheerful-looking Rangiku and an irritated looking Rukia who had just been, all but dragged, over to them. Nanao looked over at them from her for a moment, before she adjusted her glasses slightly and shot a glare at them.

"You're already late, did you have to arrive so loudly?" Rangiku shrugged and sat down carelessly, leaving Rukia to find her own seat.

"I got here as quickly as I could, I just had to make sure Rukia came since she was on a mission last time." Nanao's eyebrows rose slightly and she looked over to Rukia, who was trying not to pout at being forced to come here.

"Ah, that's alright then. Congratulations on finally making things official with Kurosaki, Rukia." The petite shinigami's cheeks flushed and she looked down at the floor. This was _exactly_why she had not wanted to come to this meeting. The other women took Nanao's statement as consent and immediately rushed over to smother Rukia with questions.

"How did it happen!"

"Did you get farther than a kiss?"

"Did Ichhy taste nice?"

"What's he like in bed?"

Rukia blushed deeply at the last question from Rangiku and stood up to try and get some space for herself. "L-listen, Ichigo and I have just got, uh, together." Rangiku pouted for a moment, then sighed and looked down at the picture of them on her magazine.

"That's a shame, he looks really hot, and I bet that determination carries over to the bedroom-"

"Rangiku, shut up!" Rukia managed to squeak out, her cheeks an even deeper red than before, and her mind now filled with images of Ichigo she really didn't need to have right now.

Nanao turned out to be her saviour as the brought the attention to her with a loud cough. "I'm sure we're all very curious to know just how this happened, but if you want to know, there are issues of the latests edition of the Seireitei communication which goes into it in great detail." Rukia couldn't say she was happy about that, but at least the cluster of women had something else to grab for as they ran over to the corner that Nanao pointed too.

However, it was not over for Rukia just yet. "Rukia, did you know that in just one day this issue of the Seireitei communication has managed to become its best-selling issue?" Rukia shook her and cringed mentally.

'_There's no way that Nii-sama won't have seen it then. I hope Ichigo doesn't get to badly hurt, he can be a pain when he refuses to recover normally.'_Nanao continued, unaware that Rukia was already preparing to mourn the loss of her boyfriend.

"Because of that, I have-" Yachiru suddenly popped up with a wide smile on her face, knocking Nanao back from the podium,

"-I have decided, as president, that to make money we need to complete the Captain photo collection, with operation: _Strawberry_." Nanao sighed at her president's interruption, and unoriginal name, before she elaborated for Yachiru.

"What she means is that we are going to take a picture of Ichigo and then sell it to increase our budget." Rukia looked back at her with wide eyes after she finished the explanation, eventually managing to splutter back a response.

"But-I, I mean I don't think that many people would want to see Ichigo." She hoped that her vague objection would save Ichigo from becoming even more eye-candy than he already was, but Nanao just shook her head in response.

"Nonsense, you must have noticed the amount of, for lack of a better word, fans that your Captain has." Rukia looked away, feeling slightly guilty, and Nanao picked up on it with a cocked eyebrow. "Or perhaps you already have."

Rukia flushed and tried to appear indignant, but Rangiku ruined the image by pulling her into a hug. "Aww, little Rukia is a possessive girl! Don't worry about that, everyone will have read the article in the Seireitei communication, are you afraid of a little competition?" Rukia scowled and looked away, pulling out of Rangiku's grip.

"Of course not! I just don't want people getting any ideas. Or looking at what's mine." She muttered the last bit, before realising what she had said. Groaning slightly in irritation, she looked back at Nanao and huffed a response.

"Fine, I don't care what you do. It's up to Ichigo what he wants to do with his body...well to an extent." She muttered the last part to herself again, since as much as it was his it was hers. No one heard her over Rangiku's squeal of excitement as she pulled out a camera from a nearby box.

"Yes! That means we just need to get him in a sexy enough position and we will sell out in minutes." Nanao sighed at her enthusiasm, giving Rukia a pitying look before she turned back to the room.

The chatter quieted as Nanao raised her voice. "As much as I hate to admit it..." She blushed slightly and readjusted her glasses again. "...Rangiku is right, if we want to make as much money from this as possible, then he will have to look as appealing as possible. We will also print as many as we can in advance, so we won't sell out like we did with the others."

Whilst Rukia looked away and tried to not pay attention, Nemu stood up. "Vice-president, I can assist in making sure that Captain Kurosaki is in a sexual position." Rukia's eyes widened at this and she stood up.

"No!" She noticed what she'd done moments later and flushed. "I-I mean, uh..." She was saved by further embarrassment by Unohana, who spoke up from her seat behind the podium.

"I agree, Captain Kurosaki should be captured naturally, rather than a forced position. We must also make sure that the position is not too mature, I'm sure neither the Captain or Ms. Kuchiki would be happy otherwise. Judging from their reaction to the magazine article, I can still feel young Ichigo's reiatsu from here." Rukia looked over to the old Captain with thankful eyes, Unohana just nodded in response, giving her a soft smile.

'_Ah young romance, it's been too long.'_The 4th squad's Captain smiled slightly wider, she had lived for centuries and it was always comforting to know that pure love still existed in this world.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) I might be a bit late to school because I'm putting this up xD Oh well! Thanks for all your reviews, this chapter will put the story back on regular timing, I haven't had a change to reply to them yet so I'll do that when I get home haha. The next few chapters will be more light hearted, fillery stuff between two arcs :)

On another note, if you haven't heard, Bleach is going ona break from Shonen Jump for 3 weeks...D: I do hope the next arc is worth it Kubo, I really do xD

Anyhow, once again I really appreciate all the reviews I have from guy guys! Especially after my unintended absence haha.


	34. Fanservice

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

"Quiet down please!" Nanao shouted out loudly to get order of the chattering shinigami women. They slowly stopped talking and looked toward her and the board behind her. "Right, we have a few idea's written down on this board...Rangiku's were mostly too adult to pursue." Said woman pouted and sighed.

"I was only trying to boost our sales, the more skin the more we make!" Nanao blushed, as did Rukia but she still spoke up against the Lieutenant.

"You won't get Ichigo in a compromising position like that, he's too careful most of the time." Now that she had thought about the idea...mostly through force as she knew him the best and all of the women were asking her how they could get the best picture of him; she thought this was a perfect time to embarrass Ichigo.

She smirked and looked over at the list of ideas they had. "Hmm, well secrecy shouldn't be too hard, as long as it's not me his reiatsu sensing skills still suck." Soi-fon snorted and looked away with distaste.

"A poor quality for a Captain, but it will make the operation easier." Rukia still sometimes found it strange that Soi-fon was part of the SWA, but then again she didn't seem to have many social opportunities.

Unohana spoke up next, looking over the ideas. "Yes, I agree. But I have an idea about the kind of position we want our subject to be in." Nanao nodded for the older woman to continue. "I think that part of the reason he is so popular is his determination, especially to protect people, like when he saved Ms. Kuchiki from her execution."

Rukia didn't really know what to say, so she just sat there and hoped that nothing too embarrassing would come up. As usual, Rangiku made sure that didn't happen. "Oh yes, he looked very hot then, just after stopping the Sokyoku. I would guess that a fair few of the women in the Soul-society have had their own fantasies about him 'rescuing' them." Rukia flushed a bright red at that remark, she could picture him just as clearly now as he was when he was standing in front of her, looking every bit the hero he was.

Isane blushed slightly for another reason, it reminded her that he had taken her down using a single open palm, without even holding his Zanpakuto. Unohana noticed and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, after all she hadn't picked her to be squad 4 Lieutenant because of her fighting ability.

Nanao's cheeks slightly flushed from the sheer openness of Rangiku. "Rangiku! Please be less explicit, we are not here to discuss what women want to do to _Rukia's_boyfriend." Rangiku blinked in surprised then gave a half-laugh, half-snort.

"I know that, if I wanted to say that I would have said half the women in the soul-society want to rap-" She was cut off by Rukia throwing her notepad at her to save herself from further embarrassment.

"Just shut up Rangiku!" Rangiku pouted but looking at the shorter woman, she did as she was told. Rukia huffed and looked back to a startled Nanao. "Can we please just pick the plan that we are going to do first?"

All eyes turned to the board to consider the options that had been thought up, looking up and down the short list. The first to speak after a moments silence was Nemu who spoke in her usual monotone. "I believe that the second option seems like the simplest to start with." There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room, and Nanao looked down at Rukia.

"I agree, Rukia how feasible is this situation?" Rukia looked up at the board, then concentrated on Ichigo for a moment before replying.

"Well, he's sleeping at the moment so it's good timing actually." Rangiku grinned and stood up, pulling a camera from the desk besides her.

"Yay, let's go and take some pictures!" Nanao sighed and looked over the group quickly before she raised her voice over Rangiku.

"Right, for this one we need at least one person who is stealthy...so Soi-fon, could you accompany Rangiku and Isane to find Captain Kurosaki...It shouldn't be too hard with his reiatsu." Soi-fon glanced over to Rangiku and inwardly sighed before she nodded and prepared to leave.

Rukia looked once more at the board, before she turned back to the small team of women. "Ichigo's somewhere near the 9th squad barracks, it doesn't feel like he's inside it though." Soi-fon nodded, and then turned to her small group.

"Right, let's go." Without waiting for the opinions of Isane and Rangiku, Soi-fon turned to leave the room. Her two companions hurried out of the room after her, leaving the rest of the SWA to debate the next plan of action.

* * *

><p>Ichigo had decided to relax outside the 9th squad barracks after he had finished ranting and searching Hisagi's barracks for the Lieutenant. He figured that eventually Hisagi would be back here at some point but in the meantime he would rest, after all he had been busy recently and Rukia wasn't around to ask him to work.<p>

So that was why he was snoozing under a tree on a small patch of grass that hugged the edge of the barracks. He would have to thank Shunsui for advising him to relax like this sometime.

Unconscious as he was, Ichigo didn't notice the three women who were perched on the roof of a nearby building. Soi-fon narrowed her eyes as she looked at her target, glancing around to make sure they were indeed alone.

After determining that they were, she turned to Rangiku. "Can you give me the camera?" Rangiku pouted and looked down at the device in her hands.

"Do I have too?" Soi-fon gritted her teeth but held back her anger, when on a mission the goal was the priority.

"I am best suited to take the picture, so please hand it over." The Lieutenant sighed but handed the small, silver camera over. Soi-fon took it and hopped off the roof, leaving Rangiku to remain behind with Isane and make sure everything went as planned.

Soi-fon landed delicately on a branch of the tree which Ichigo was sleeping beneath. The squad 2 Captain frowned slightly as she felt his reiatsu still flowing around him as he slept, like a blanket of air around him. She still wasn't used to Ichigo's reiatsu which constantly leaked around him, having not spent much time around the relatively new Captain.

She reached out her own to sense his reiatsu and was relived to find it was relaxed and calm: he was truly asleep. Taking that into account, she lowered herself on the branch and balanced over him, moving the camera to in front of her face.

She took the picture, then frowned as the picture appeared on the screen, it _looked_like it was taken by a spy rather than the suggestive type of picture they had been going for. She looked back down at the sleeping man and decided to try again. Carefully and deftly, she linked her legs around the branch and swung down beneath it to get a better image of Ichigo by being closer to him.

Soi-fon steadied herself and tightened her legs around the branch to make sure the picture wasn't blurred. She raised the camera and took the picture, only a meter or two away from him as she pulled the camera away from her eye to have a look at the picture.

She smiled slightly as she looked at the picture and prepared to leave to go back to her companions by tightening her legs around the branch as she pulled herself back up. This resulted in the unfortunate result of a quiet crack and Soi-fon widened her eyes at the sound.

Moments later, the branch broke and the agile fell from her perch onto the sleeping Captain.

"Wha-!" Ichigo grunted out as he was unceremoniously brought out of his nap by something landing on his stomach. He dully recognised a faint click as his eyes opened and focused on the surprisingly light object on his lap.

His brain finally clicked into motion and his eyes widened; on his lap was the 2nd squad Captain with her cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment. Before he could open his mouth she spoke up in a clipped tone.

"I apologise Captain Kurosaki, I didn't see you there." Without giving any other explanation she got up and flash-stepped away, leaving a dazed and confused Ichigo to mumble out a response.

"Uhh, yeah later Soi-fon." He blinked out of daze as she disappeared before he just shrugged and relaxed back into the grass. He felt out for Rukia's reiatsu, only to find out that she was still in her meeting with Rangiku. '_Or whatever it was, I'll ask her when she had finished with it.'_

With that in mind, he drifted off back to sleep under the tree,

* * *

><p>The women of the SWA looked up as the door to their meeting room opened up and Soi-fon stepped in, Rangiku and Isane trailing behind her. As she sat down the 2nd squad Captain threw the camera to Nanao, who caught it without hesitation and looked at the pictures which had been captured. She raised her eyebrow after a moment, then connected it to an old projector that the SWA had recently purchased.<p>

As the first picture appeared the discussion quietened down and Nanao spoke up. "Thanks to Soifon, Isane and Rangiku, we have completed out first mission and have our first option for Captain Kurosaki's picture."

All eyes looked up at the first picture: Ichigo was clearly sleeping and he was peaceful, but the camera looked like it was a bit far away from him. Rangiku pointed this out with a slight frown. "That picture looks like Soi-fon took it." Nanao deadpanned and looked over to her.

"She did, you were there." Rangiku rolled her eyes and looked over to the, now irritated, 2nd squad Captain.

"Exactly, we want him to look sexy, not like a hit we have to take out." In order to avoid further irritation of the head of the stealth corps, Nanao cleared her throat and switched to the next picture.

Looking up at the picture, Kiyone spoke up. "He looks much more peaceful there, Rukia, what do you think?" She looked over to her Lieutenant, who was trying not to look too interested in anything that was going on, considering that they were essentially taking the most sexy picture of Ichigo the could. Sure, she wanted to irritate him, but if she wanted to look at Ichigo...she would look at Ichigo, it felt a bit strange to feel like she was spying on him.

" I don't think that was really what we were...going for with this picture." Rukia mumbled, trying to ignore the fact that Ichigo did look very handsome in the picture. Nanao sighed and looked up at the picture herself.

"I agree, whilst he looks calm and..." She blushed slightly and cleared her throat. " Anyway, I don't think we would sell as many copies, though if we sell enough of the one we pick then we could put this one out as another option." She flicked off the picture and was surprised to see that another one came onto the screen.

Ichigo was looking blearily at the camera, his eyes half-lidded and his hair ruffled from where he had been lying on the floor. He looked exactly like he had just woken up, which he had, so if they were going for the suggestive look they certainly achieved it. There was silence as the women took in the undeniably sexy Captain, before all eyes turned to Soi-fon.

Rangiku giggled and nudged the 2nd squad Captains side. "Oh, you must have got that picture by accident when you jumped him." Soi-fon turned red and looked away.

"W-what did you say?" Rukia choked out, after getting her voice back first from the appearance of Ichigo which had made her tingle in...places, and second when her mind managed to process how Soi-fon had obtained the picture.

Soi-fon's head snapped around and her eyes widened. "N-no, it's not what you think! The branch I was using simply broke and I landed on Captain Kurosaki." Rukia let out an, almost silent, sigh of relief and nodded.

Nanao waited until she was sure there wouldn't be any more drama before she continued. "Right, so if our other plans fail, we have this picture to fall back on." Everyone nodded and Nanao disconnected the camera , drawing their attention back to the list of idea's on the board. She ticked off the first mission - "_Operation Strawberry: Lazy day."_

She stepped back and looked at the board. "So we will go onto our next one; I think we'll need someone strong for this...Chairwomen Unohana would you mind?" The old Captain shook her head and stood.

"Not at all, Kiyone and Rukia, if you could accompany me for this one?" It might have sounded like a request, but coming from the 4th squad Captain, it was a direct order. Rukia sighed inwardly and nodded, whereas Kiyone seemed much more enthusiastic.

"Of course. I'd be happy to help, c'mon Rukia!" Rukia didn't respond but got up to join her previous squad's 3rd seat. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Ichigo in...that particular position, but watching him with a bunch of other people seemed a bit strange. Nevertheless, it was either that or get forced by Unohana, and this way also had the bonus of Ichigo being embarrassed.

Nanao handed over the camera and Unohana with her comrades turned to leave.

* * *

><p>The three women arrived next to a, still sleeping, Ichigo. Unohana walked up to him without hesitation and stopped beside him, looking down at him with an unreadable expression.<p>

"Captain Kurosaki, it's time to wake up." However, Ichigo didn't budge. Rukia's eyes darkened in irritation as Ichigo remained oblivious to the presence of his fellow Captain.

She growled slightly and walked over to him, poking her foot into his side when she got there. "Wake up, idiot!" Ichigo shifted in his sleep and after a moment he opened his eyes blearily.

"Wha- Rukia, is your meeting over now?" In his sleepy state he didn't notice her frustration and embarrassment. Before Rukia could berate him for ignoring a fellow Captain (ignoring the fact he had been asleep), the Captain in question raised her own voice.

"Now, Lieutenant Kuchiki, it is disrespectful to speak to your Captain like that." Rukia widened her eyes, then bowed her head in apology. Unohana smiled at her before turning her head to look again at Ichigo. "Captain Kurosaki, if you wouldn't mind coming with us for a moment, it's for the SWA."

Ichigo blinked and gave her a blank look. "The what?" He rolled his head towards them to see who else was there: it was Rukia, Unohana and...and, that third seat. He inwardly sighed slightly at his own inability to remember names, but he was sure someone would mention it before he had to.

Unohana's smile grew slightly more menacing and Ichigo recoiled slightly. "The shinigami women's association, of which I am the chairwoman. So I will say again that your time for a moment would be greatly appreciated." Ichigo nodded meekly and pushed himself up.

"Uh, sure I guess Unohana." He gave his haori a quick rub down and looked towards the small group, his eyes now more awake. Ichigo looked between Rukia and Unohana, before settling on Unohana to avoid abuse for the time being. "So what exactly do you need me for?"

Unohana continued to smile back at him, and turned away before answering. "You will see shortly, Captain Kurosaki. Now if you, Kiyone and Rukia would follow me." With that the Captain disappeared, reappearing on the road beside the barracks. Realising that Unohana wasn't going to wait for them, the three flash-stepped after her, following as she flashed ahead once again.

They continued this at a leisurely pace Ichigo looking around as they moved further away from the centre of the Seireitei, trying to figure out where they were going. He gave up after a while and brought himself to move in time with Rukia.

"How was your meeting thing, Rukia?" She glanced up at him, but quickly turned her attention back to Unohana.

Shrugging, she responded. "It was...irritating, they wouldn't shut up about us." Ichigo scowled, but didn't comment on it. "Though I wasn't really expecting anything else from them. Aside from that...the SWA is usually entertaining at the least, better than the MA anyway." Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

"MA? Mens association? Is that bad then?" Rukia chuckled and smirked back at him.

"Yes. To put it bluntly, I mean it is just a dozen or so male shinigami who sit around in leather jackets and sunglasses. They have a really small budget compared to the other groups and I think they don't even have a meeting room anymore." Ichigo snorted and rolled his eyes.

He flicked his eyes forward to make sure he was still following Unohana and Kiyone before he turned his attention back to her. "That sounds pretty lame, is Renji in it?"

Rukia gave a wry chuckle before she shook her head. "No, I don't think so though I can see why you might thing that. The most notable member I can think of is Captain Ukitake." Ichigo's eyes grew wide and he almost tripped when he landed from his last flash-step, before he caught himself.

"Ukitake? Man, I never thought he would do something like that, he just doesn't seem...uh, never mind." Rukia just smirked back at him.

"Don't worry, I know what you mean. Obviously I've never been to the men's association, but I too find it hard to imagine him looking like that." Ichigo nodded in agreement. He looked back up to see that Unohana had stopped before a lake.

Ichigo and Rukia arrived next to her and Kiyone, Rukia going to stand beside them. Ichigo looked out into the lake and furrowed his brow in confusion, he had no idea why they were here, or that this lake had even existed before. He turned his attention back to Unohana.

"So can you tell me exactly why we're here?" Unohana didn't respond immediately, instead pulling out a camera glancing down at it.

After she had given it a look over, she glanced over to Rukia. "Now, Rukia, could you please set up the shot."

Rukia smirked and nodded, any hesitation she had was gone when she thought about irritating Ichigo _with_permission from another Captain. She walked over to a confused Ichigo and grabbed his wrist, pulling him along with her with minimal resistance from him. He looked over to Kiyone and Unohana and saw them walking along behind them, as he turned to ask Rukia what the hell she was doing, he felt her stop.

"Don't get out until I say." Before he could question her he was stopped.

By her foot in his back.

Rukia had lifted her foot and shoved him forward, causing him to fall into the lake. He flailed for purchase for a moment but it was a futile endeavor as he quickly found himself waist-deep in warm water. Spluttering, he raised his head and pushed himself up, now soaking wet.

"What the _hell,_Rukia?" She just smirked from the shore and Unohana walked up beside her, camera in hand.

She raised it and spoke to him as she started taking pictures. "Captain Kurosaki, we are doing a photo-shoot for the SWA and we need you to complete our set for the Captain's pictures." Ichigo blinked and looked back at her in surprise, before his face returned to a scowl and he glared at the older Captain.

"That doesn't explain why I am dripping wet and standing in a lake."Unohana stopped taking pictures for a moment and lowered the camera slightly to pierce Ichigo with her eyes.

His glare faltered under her cold gaze. "We simply need you to look appealing to our readers, Kurosaki, I trust there is no problem here?" As much as he wanted to remain angry, he feared what would happen if he did. Moments later his brain registered exactly what she had said.

'_Look appealing?'_He blushed and his eyes widened, which Unohana took advantage off as she began to start taking pictures again.

Shirosaki wasn't helping as he laughed loudly at Ichigo's predicament. "_**Man, they're setting you up to be the pin-up guy for the shinigami. Imagine what ya could do with all the groupies you're going to get, I'm up for taking some of the load off ya hands, partner."**_As Ichigo really didn't want to hear what his hollow wanted to do, he turned his attention back to his current situation.

He turned his glare to Rukia. "You had something to do with this, didn't you midget." She just glared back at him and retorted.

"Wrong you fool, they just saw the picture," She blushed at that, but continued. " and remembered that you had not yet had your picture taken, so they drew up a list if ideas for your picture. Now start looking more...attractive." She smirked as she finished and Ichigo started, crossing his arms and looking away.

"Oi, I don't remember you complaining about that before. Besides, if you want this-" He was cut off mid-rant by Unohana, who did not stop taking pictures as she reprimanded him.

"Kurosaki, please refrain from looking so moody during this exercise." Ichigo wanted to scowl again at that but knew that the punishment would be...severe if he did so.

Instead he just groaned and looked up at eh 4th squad Captain. "Uh, I just want to get this over with, so can you tell me what to do or something?" Unohana nodded and motioned for Kiyone to instruct him.

The excited 13th squad 3rd seat started shouting out instructions. "Okay Captain Kurosaki, you need to look at me like you want to rescue me! Better yet, look at Rukia like that, now I need you to move..." Ichigo sighed as she continued to give him instructions.

'_This is going to take ages'_However, in a few moments Ichigo would be wishing it would take longer.

* * *

><p>The Captain of the 6th squad knelt by his wife's side as she slept as he has done since she had returned. When they had arrived he had immediately had her taken to their old room and given everything she might need, in addition to himself there was a servant who stood outside the room until he was relieved by another, guarding the entrance from unwanted visitors. The only interaction Byakuya had was with a hell butterfly where he had passed his duties (temporarily) down to his Lieutenant, without giving him any specific reasoning for it.<p>

As thrilled as he was that his wife had returned, quite literally, from the dead Byakuya knew that he might meet with resistance from the Kuchiki elders because of this. That was why he had not made the information public knowledge yet, and trusted that neither his sister or Kurosaki would make it known, or at the very least that Rukia would make sure the boy didn't.

So he continued his vigil over his wife silently until he heard a soft knocking at the door. Slightly irritated he responded coldly. "Enter."

The door slid open to revel the servant who was currently guarding the door, white faced, with something in his hands. Byakuya appraised him with his stoic expression, wondering why the man had interrupted him.

His unasked question was answered seconds later. "C-Captain Kuchiki, I h-have something you need to see." Byakuya wondered what it was internally, but gave no indication of it as he nodded stiffly.

The terrified servant made his way over to him and handed him an upside-down copy of the Seireitei communication. Byakuya frowned ever so slightly and turned the magazine over, wondering why it was so important-

He froze when he saw the cover.

He remembered _specifically_ telling the boy to follow the noble ways of courtship, not...this. Not only that but had allowed himself to be caught and now not only himself, but Rukia as well as Byakuya would suffer because of the Kuchiki clan. But that was still beside the point...the _boy_was touching his sister in an inappropriate manner.

He would have to be taught a lesson.

Without looking at the servant, Byakuya stood with the magazine and started walking towards the door, stopping only to give instructions before he left. "Guard her with your life."

Then he disappeared, leaving the servant to thank the heavens he had survived.

* * *

><p>Ichigo felt a cold shiver run through him that wasn't the water dripping down his neck. He had been following instructions from Kiyone for about ten minutes now whilst ignoring Rukia, who was being helpful by laughing at him from the shore, under threat of Unohana. He didn't know what she would do if he did shout at Rukia but more importantly he didn't want to know and so, grudgingly kept his mouth shut.<p>

"All right now I want you to...to..." Ichigo raised an eyebrow as he heard Kiyone trail off and look off behind him. Ichigo followed her gaze and froze when he saw what had caught her attention.

Byakuya Kuchiki glared down coldly at him and Ichigo knew that regardless of what he did, this would end up badly...for him.

Swallowing, Ichigo scratched the back of his head as he looked up at the Captain, trying to ignore the ice-cold reiatsu that was emanating from him. "H-hey Byakuya, why are you here?" Byakuya didn't dignify it with an answer, instead he threw the magazine at Rukia.

She caught it, looked at the cover and her face turned white. Her head snapped back up to her brother and her voice trembled as she attempted to stop her brother from doing anything rash. "N-Nii-sama, please think about this, t-this was taken before we informed you about our relationship."

As she finished speaking she cringed, she knew instantly that that was the wrong thing to say. Ichigo noticed that too and groaned as Byakuya's icy glare turned back to him, freezing him in place.

"So, you neglected to inform me of this Kurosaki?" Ichigo stepped back slightly, glancing at Rukia, Unohana and Kiyone before looking back to the irate Captain.

"C'mon Byakuya, the only reason we didn't is because we were on a mission, plus we knew you would overreact-"

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Ichigo paled as Byakuya's sword dissolved into pink petals he held up a hand and used the other to reach for his sword.

"Wait-" but he was swamped by a swarm of angry petals, he disappeared from view in the blizzard but Byakuya continued to entrap him with his shikai.

Byakuya didn't stop until a voice pierced the air. "Captain Kuchiki, I can appreciate your anger but would you mind waiting for a moment?" Byakuya didn't stop his assault but did focus his gaze on Unohana for a moment.

"Please do not interrupt when matters do not concern you..." He noticed that Ichigo had fought his way out of the petals and redirected them to swarm around him again. "...this boy has stepped on the honour of the Kuchiki family, regardless of my opinion he must be taught a lesson of the noble way, and I-" Unohana cut him off with a deadly smile and her voice made his eyes widen slightly.

"You are interfering with the SWA Captain, and if you don't cease immediately I will have to force you to stop." Her voice carried a definite threat and Byakuya gave a small frown but retracted his petals to a single blade and glared down at Ichigo.

Ichigo was on one knee and looked up in a daze, his sealed sword in one hand and the chest and arms of his shihakusho ripped in multiple places. Beneath his robes he had multiple cuts from the deadly blades, he had only been protected from severe damage by pushing his reiatsu outwards to stop the majority of the blades from ripping his flesh to shreds rather than his shihakusho.

Byakuya lamented silently as he sheathed his blade. "Very well Captain Unohana. As you are preoccupied Kurosaki, we will settle this matter later. Rukia, you will see me with the boy when I send for you." With that the elder Captain turned and flash-stepped away, leaving Ichigo to thank the SWA and Unohana for the first time since he had been roped into the photo-shoot.

Ichigo turned to look at Rukia, who had moved to beside Unohana in case she had to ask the older Captain for aid. He caught her eyes and shouldered his blade as he did in shikai, smirking at her. "I hope you have some sort of plan for that, Rukia."

Rukia didn't respond, her breath was caught in her throat as she took him in: His cocky smirk, the almost careless way he was holding his blade and his battle worn image merged with the droplets of water running down his frame to finish of his look. He looked like a damned _god_.

She was snapped out of her trance as she heard the click of the camera. "Well, I think we have the picture we wanted." Unohana said cheerfully and turned to Kiyone. "Come on Kiyone, it's time for us to return. Rukia I insist you stay and attend to Kurosaki's wounds, superficial as they are." Without leaving room for argument the Captain vanished, Kiyone following suit with a quick bow seconds later.

Rukia sighed and walked to the shore as Ichigo waded out, his waterlogged shihakusho sticking gracelessly to his legs. He dropped with a loud slapping sound and exhaled as he leaned back on his slightly bloodied arms. "Byakuya sure was angry, I really will have to find Hisagi."

* * *

><p>Just as Hisagi left Kira's office he sneezed and froze.<p>

"Fuck it, I'm going back in there." Kira sighed from inside as his fellow Lieutenant scurried back in and again worked on suppressing his reiatsu.

* * *

><p>Rukia frowned and started healing him with Kido. It brought back fond memories as she spoke. "Well you have to see it from Nii-sama's perspective Ichigo, he will have the Kuchiki clan angry at him <em>again.<em>They won't be happy about Hisana either when he tells them about that and they were never happy about me being a clan member, so if they see me doing inappropriate things and shaming the Kuchiki name then-" Ichigo cut her off by capturing her lips in his for a gentle kiss and then pulling away slightly to rest his forehead on hers.

"It's not inappropriate idiot, it's unavoidable. Besides since when do you care what they think, you are a Lieutenant and a powerful one at that. They didn't fight in the war and they didn't kill an Espada, so do what you normally do and kick some ass." Rukia blushed slightly at the kiss, but it was growing slightly less every time. '_I wonder if I will ever get used to it.'_

She shook her head slightly and poked his wound, causing him to flinch slightly and scowl at her. "Fool, I know that. I just don't want them making this harder on Nii-sama than it will undoubtedly be, you aren't exactly the most popular shinigami to the Kuchiki clan, I bet a few of them wish you had never rescued me." Ichigo scowled and leaned back, his wounds now fully healed.

"Well, we know what kind of people they are so it doesn't matter." The reminder of their mission made Rukia looked down and fidget slightly before she spoke up.

"We have to move soon you know." Ichigo nodded and glanced up at her.

"I know, we'll tell Byakuya and arrest that elder when your brother _invites _us over. Tomorrow I would guess." Rukia smirked back at him and lay down beside him.

"You know, he is going to be furious with you."

Ichigo smirked and rolled his head over to look at her. "I know. That's why you're going to be there, I could use a human shield...though you might not protect much." Rukia glared at him and hit his shoulder lightly from her position besides him.

"Fool." Ichigo cracked a smile at that within seconds both of them were laughing at each other, and relaxing in the peaceful time they had together.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Aww, some more nice fluff to make you all happy xD And to tide you over until Bleach comes back to us D: Luckily I have other things to keep me occupied to an extent, a friend suggested I watch 'The world god only knows' so I'm giving that a go, but don't worry updatew sill stay as usual xD

I'm again thankful for all your reviews! Though I would ask if you think the story is less enjoyable now? I only ask because there's been a drop of about 10 reviews in the last chapter, though my beta said that it is likely because of the break I had :P Either way I would love to know what you think, thanks again.

P.S

On a side note I've been playing around with half an idea, well an eighth or so of an idea I suppose. I'm vaguely considering writing a light novel, or at least starting to and see where that goes, don't know if you care but I thought I'd make a point of it heh.

See you all later!


	35. Meet the family

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Though Rukia and Ichigo expected contact from Byakuya quickly, demanding that they come and listen to his rules for their relationship; it wasn't until a week had passed since he had assaulted Ichigo with his shikai that they finally received a hell butterfly from him. It had been a relatively normal day, until Rukia saw the butterfly fly through the window and land on her desk.

Ichigo looked up as she was relayed the message, paying careful attention to her expression which shifted from nervous to anxious. When the butterfly took off she turned to him. "Ichigo, have you finished your work?"

He looked down at the empty space before him, there hadn't been much for him to do today so looked back at her and nodded. "Yeah, was that for both of us?" Rukia stood and he mimicked her actions.

"Yes, it was from Nii-sama." Ichigo shuddered slightly, he wasn't sure if he should be glad they were getting this over with or not. "He has asked that we come to the mansion as soon as possible, he didn't give a reason but..."

She glanced up at Ichigo and he sighed, it was obvious why her brother had requested their presence. "I hope Byakuya's in a good mood today...or at least a less violent mood than before."

Rukia snorted and smirked up at him. "I wouldn't bet on it, maybe you should just be polite to him again." Ichigo waved the idea off as they walked out of the barracks.

"Nah, if he's gonna try anything again I'll just have to remind him of our other fight." He smirked back at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Nii-sama has been training for 17 months unlike you, and you at least had bankai available to you when you fought him at my execution."Ichigo frowned .

"Oi, it's not like I wanted to be powerless for so long. Anyway, I still have bankai...I just haven't used it yet because I haven't had the time, would you rather see me smother a bunch of slightly spiritually sensitive people in Rukongai?" Rukia didn't speak for a moment as she formulated a comeback.

Ichigo was about to claim victory when she finally spoke up. "That wouldn't happen if you had better control of your reiatsu, the Captain Commander doesn't smother souls everywhere he goes." Ichigo scowled back at her, almost walking into another shinigami as his attention was diverted away from where he was going.

"He's had longer to train it, at least it's gotten better than it was before." Rukia gave a slight sigh, she would have to give him that. Though his reiatsu was still largely uncontrollable at the moment he could at least pull much of it in the majority of the time, rather than flatten everyone in his squad. It only really broke free when he was experiencing some intense emotion, or when he was fighting.

Rukia looked up and saw that they were near the gates of the Kuchiki mansion so decided to put their argument on hold with a decisive strike. "Maybe so, but I still wouldn't want to be the poor soul next to you when someone irritates you slightly _Captain_." Before Ichigo could retort she walked up to one of the guards at the gate.

"Greetings, I believe that my brother is expecting us?" The guard nodded at her then looked critically over at Ichigo.

"And this is?" Ichigo scowled at the guard's arrogant attitude and Rukia made a mental note to tease him when their argument resumed because the guard had started sweating under Ichigo's slightly raised reiatsu.

The annoyed Captain glared at the guard as he responded. "Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain of squad five." Before the guard could respond the gates opened and revealed a woman looking coldly at the two of them.

"I apologise for the ineptitude of this guard, however I must ask you to stop acting so boorishly when close or within the Kuchiki estate. Your reiatsu has disrupted a few of the guards so please contain it. Please follow me, Byakuya is awaiting you. Ichigo spluttered slightly at the concise woman, who just continued to look down at him, or appeared to.

Before he found his voice Rukia bowed before her. "I apologise Lady Kuchiki, we are sorry if we disturbed you and do not expect you to assist us yourself." Ichigo blinked in surprise at Rukia's cold tone before he understood: she was acting exactly she had been taught. This is what she had learned when Byakuya had taken her in, how to put on that Kuchiki mask.

The woman who had greeted them looked down at Rukia with something akin to a sneer before it was quickly gone and she bowed in response. "It is not a problem Lady Rukia, if you and your..._guest_, could please follow me."

Rukia softly ran her hand over Ichigo's, which was clenched into a fist after the insulting way they had both been spoken to. The walk through the mansion was awkward and stilted, numerous looks were shot at them from all the Kuchiki's they passed, and even some of the servants. In addition Ichigo felt as though the woman in front held some sort of power over all of them, since he could hardly speak his mind to Rukia whilst she was here.

He breathed out a silent sigh of relief when the woman stopped at a door. "Please go in, Lord Byakuya is expecting you." She didn't wait for a response and swept away with an air of haughtiness that caused Ichigo to scowl.

His mood slightly worsened, Ichigo pushed open the door and Rukia followed him inside. Her eyes widened slightly and she stopped as she saw what greeted them; her sister was awake and smiling softly up at her brother. Her smile was directed at Rukia when she noticed that the pair had entered the room. "It's good to see you again Rukia, I am so grateful that we have this second chance." Rukia smiled back at her, her eyes full of emotion.

"As am I, how long have you been awake?" Hisana looked over to Byakuya, who was choosing to glare at Ichigo (who was glaring back) and sighed before responding.

"A day ago, I wanted to speak with you sooner, but Byakuya insisted on filling me in on the past that I have missed. In retrospect I am glad because..." She trailed off slightly and turned to look at Ichigo. "...Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo didn't notice his name being spoken so Rukia nudged him in the side with irritation, he flinched slightly and redirected his glare to her. "What is it, can't you tell Byakuya to-"

"Nee-san is speaking to you, fool. Pay attention." Ichigo's anger faded and he looked down at Hisana in surprise, slightly taken aback by the sincere emotion on her face.

She smiled up at him and clasped her hands together. "Kurosaki, I can never thank you enough for what you have done for my sister. You risked your life, no, you _gave-up_your life for hers without any hesitation or thoughts for your own safety, not only that but you have even managed to help Byakuya over my death." The elder Kuchiki shifted slightly at this, not wanting to admit there was some truth to her words, but she continued. "For that I will be eternally grateful...and will support your relationship with my sister."

Ichigo and Rukia's eyes widened and Ichigo responded, humbled by her eloquent speech. "Uh, no problem, really it wasn't a big deal. And just call me Ichigo." Hisana smiled brightly back at him.

Byakuya however, looked down at his wife with a slightly shocked expression. "Hisana, though I agree to an extent the boy has-" She stopped him by placing a finger on his lips and smiling up at him.

"Did you forget Byakuya, I don't think we followed the noble way of courtship _exactly_either, or have I been gone too long." To Ichigo's amazement, Byakuya's cheeks gained a slight red tinge to them before he pulled away and stood straight, his face once again pale. But Hisana had seen it and took that as confirmation of her words.

Byakuya frowned and gave a small sigh. "Very well, I shall let this pass. However this is only because both Kurosaki and Rukia must be ready for tonight." Rukia looked up at him, confused.

"What are you talking about Nii-sama, there's nothing on tonight." Byakuya narrowed his eyes and looked towards Ichigo, whose expression was as equally blank.

"I put the invitation in Abarai's paperwork." Rukia and Ichigo blanched and glanced at each other, both knowing that Renji hated paperwork as much as Rangiku did.

Ichigo looked back at Byakuya. "Ah, that might have been a mistake." The elder Captain sighed in irritation.

"Yes, I see that know. I cannot fault you for my Lieutenant's lack of enthusiasm." Ichigo's lips twitched up in a smirk but he tried to smother it, he wanted to see Renji after Byakuya was through with him. "However, you are here as you needed to be so all I need to do is tell you the reason why." He paused before he explained it to make sure he left out no details, only for the task to be taken of his hands by Hisana.

"This evening, the Kuchiki clan is gathering to...celebrate my return, though they do not know this. However other topics will also be discussed and one of these might be an attempt to pressure Byakuya to let suitors start courting my sister." Rukia looked sideways and saw, as she expected, Ichigo's eyes darken at that. "Because of that, I thought that it would be better if Ichigo joined you in attendance, Rukia?" Ichigo's anger dissipated as quickly as it had come and he looked at Hisana as though she were mad.

"Me? You want me to go to a gathering of stuffy nobles?" Byakuya glared at him but Hisana just gave him a smile in response.

"Indeed, Byakuya agreed with me on this." Ichigo still looked more than skeptical as he turned his attention to Byakuya.

Rukia raised an eyebrow and looked at her brother. "Nii-sama? You think this is a good idea too, you know what those gatherings are like." Ichigo frowned at her statement, for the moment ignoring his own misgivings. '_Does she think I can't handle it?'_

Byakuya raised his hand to stop her before he spoke. "I am well aware of the situation Rukia, perhaps more so than you, regardless of what you think of him Kurosaki must be introduced to the elders. Now may not be the perfect time to do that but because of your...indiscretion, we should act as soon as possible." Rukia looked down, feeling humbled by her brother.

"I apologise Nii-sama, I was not thinking." Ichigo's frown turned into a scowl at her submissive behaviour, which tended to present itself when in Byakuya's presence.

However he didn't have time to question it as Hisana had fixed him with surprisingly piercing eyes. "Ichigo, I am sorry to heap this upon you now but I must request that you do everything you can to hold your emotions in check. Trust me, I know how difficult this could be because of the nature of the elders as I had to deal with them also. You...may not have given them a good impression from your sudden and rash actions."

Ichigo groaned and slapped his hand to his head, he had never been good at holding back his emotions. If he were trapped in a room full of people like Byakuya for an extended period of time it would just be harder, he was tempted to just find a way out of the situation. Giving it one last chance he looked over to Rukia, taking in her humble appearance, her anxious eyes, everything about her he used to draw strength from. This was not for him.

It was for her.

"Fine, I'll do my best." Hisana smiled widely back at him and Byakuya simply nodded and called for a servant.

"Escort Captain Kurosaki to select some clothing for the evening, my sister knows the way back to her room and she has clothing there." The servant nodded and motioned for Ichigo to follow him form his position next to the open door. Before he could leave Byakuya spoke up again. "Kurosaki, if you would also hand me your haori. I will keep it safe but it is not suitable wear for these formal events as much as your shihakusho isn't."

Ichigo grumbled but did as he was told, shrugging off his Captain's haori and handing it to Byakuya, he thought he detected a hint of something...amusement? In the older Captain's eyes, but it was gone in an instant. '_I must be going mad if think Byakuya's acting like that.'_Still in his own thoughts he missed the looked that Byakuya and Hisana exchanged.

As he left the room he glanced back to Rukia but she gave him a reassuring smile. "If you would follow me, Captain Kurosaki." The servant spoke up, so Ichigo relented and followed him, giving Rukia one parting remark.

"See you at dinner then, Rukia." Then he was gone.

Rukia could feel a smirk growing on her own lips: she knew that tone. Ichigo had accepted the challenge that she and Byakuya had thrown his way, and would face it as he did everything else in his life. Head on. '_I hope that fool is ready for this...I don't know what the elders will do once the meet him, but it won't be anything good.'_Part of her had already started worrying for him, for them, despite her confidence in him.

Sode no shirayuki's calming voice helped ease her fears. '_Relax, Rukia. Ichigo is a Captain now, not the ryoka he once was. He has the support of the entire Gotei 13 and even if you ignore that, you both have to complete your mission.'_Rukia's eyes widened at that, they had not been able to apprehend Shichiro Kuchiki because of his ties to the nobles.

'_Nii-sama must be told about him.'_That was there only option, despite the man's unspeakable crimes he could not be taken before Central 46 without concrete evidence, which they didn't have. They had the testimony of one man who was currently being held by squad two and were awaiting the private investigation by them to be completed.

But if she got her brothers consent, she and Ichigo could take him under suspicion with Byakuya's assistance. Rukia immediately turned to her brother. "Nii-sama, there's something important that we need to discuss." Byakuya looked back at her, his face unreadable.

"What is it concerning Rukia?" Rukia looked down at Hisana and knew that he was also considering If she should hear the information or not, she would leave it up to him.

"It is concerning Shichiro Kuchiki and his affairs." Byakuya raised an eyebrow at that and wondered why his sister had brought up one of the oldest Kuchiki elders.

He glanced down at Hisana again and decided that it she deserved to know as much as he did, she was part of the family too after all. "Why is he of interest to you?"

'_So he doesn't mind Hisana being here...very well.'_

Rukia's face hardened to mirror his as she responded. "During our investigation in Rukongai, Ichigo and I discovered that he has been manipulating the districts. We do know for how long it he has been doing this but we do know that it has caused Rukongai to be worse off, as supplies and...people were being stolen and resold or otherwise abused." Silence followed Rukia's small report and Byakuya's face gave nothing away as he returned her gaze stonily.

Rukia noticed Hisana out of the corner of her eye, her horrified face and wide eyes standing out besides Byakuya's immobile ones. Finally he spoke.

"Who else knows of this." Rukia responded immediately, silently thankful her brother believed her.

"Only the Captain Commander and Ichigo, we are waiting for concrete evidence from squad two but if you can help us then-"

"I will assist you in his capture and allow you to use any means necessary." Rukia was momentarily surprised by how much colder Byakuya's voice had gotten, even when she looked into his normally steeled eyes she saw a spark of anger glowing in them.

She bowed slightly and smiled back at him, relieved. "Thank you, Nii-sama." He responded with a nod of the head.

"We will pick our moment at the event, now you should go and pick out something to wear." Rukia nodded and turned to leave, groaning slightly as she heard Hisana's voice follow her down the hall.

"Make sure you look good for Ichigo, I'm sure he's doing the same for you!"

* * *

><p>Ichigo meanwhile, was looking blankly at a rack of formal Kimono's, having no clue where to start. He couldn't remember the last time he had needed to dress formally, for the most part his shihakusho served as a garment for all occasions. Sighing slightly before scowling at the clothes like it was their fault he wondered how he was going to resolve this issue.<p>

"Sir, you have 10 minutes until you must be ready." Ichigo jumped slightly at the voice and turned to see a woman standing at the open door. He hadn't seen her before but she wore the robes of the Kuchiki servants.

His scowl deepened in irritation but he forced a thanks. "Thank you for telling me." He was about to turn back to glaring at the Kimono's but the woman's voice hesitantly spoke up again.

"If you'd like sir, I could help you pick something." Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise and the girl instantly bowed low. "I apologise, I shouldn't have suggested it-"

Ichigo waved her apology off and interrupted her. "No, actually I'd like the help. I've got no clue on what I should wear for this kind of occasion." This time it was her eyebrows that rose as she walked over to the rack of clothes.

"That's strange, it was my understanding that all nobles, whether from a lesser or greater noble house, were taught how to dress and behave for events such as these." Ichigo chuckled in response and leant up against a wall, watching her look through the clothing.

She looked back at him and he shrugged. "That might be true but I'm about the farthest thing from a noble you can get. Well I think Byakuya would put it like that roughly." The servant remained confused and frowned slightly as she looked through the clothes again.

"You mean Lord Kuchiki? How can you not be a noble but speak so informally of him, and if you are not then why are you attending this event?" Ichigo wondered if she was actually curious or if this was some test from Byakuya. Either way he didn't care really.

Pushing himself of the wall, he walked over to look at the clothes besides her. "Lord Kuchiki huh, it must get irritating to have all these Kuchiki's around, since they all have the same last name." He mused avoiding her question of asking who he was, getting a disapproving look from her.

"I don't think anyone else has brought the matter up." Her voice was slightly colder now and Ichigo sighed inwardly, even the Kuchiki servants seemed quite stiff.

There was a moment of tense silence before the servant sighed slightly and drew out a kimono for him to wear. "I suggest that you wear this to the event and...I apologise for my earlier-"

Ichigo snorted and waved a hand to stop her and took the Kimono from her hands. "Don't worry about it, I can't expect more from someone in this" he waved his hand again to generally indicated the environment. " place."

She bit back a retort and bowed before him. "Still, it's not my place, I'll be outside."As she left Ichigo sighed, there was no hope in him trying to change these servants. Though that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

"Never be afraid to speak your mind, sure you should know when to and when to keep your mouth shut but I don't care what you think of me." He spoke from the other side of the door, hoping that she might hear him whilst he changed. He eyed the Kimono before he put it on and had to admit that she had chosen a nice one.

Putting it on, he folded his shihakusho and placed it down before opening the door to leave. The servant looked him up and down before she nodded approvingly. "The dinner and entertainment is down the hall, take your third right and second left. Tell the guard at the door your name and he will introduce you." Ichigo nodded and turned to leave, but was stopped by a soft voice.

"Wait..." The servant spoke up again, she knew she shouldn't but she couldn't help but think that his face was familiar. She couldn't remember where from but she knew she should, maybe this would help stop the nagging feeling. "Would you be so kind as to tell me your name?"

Ichigo smirked and turned, letting his voice carry behind him as he said it. "Ah, now you want to know. Well it's Ichigo Kurosaki, pleasure to meet you." Her eyes widened in shock as she watched him walk down the hall, she should have known with that hair. Mentally she berated herself, she had just insulted a Captain and the one who had saved the soul-society. Disappointed in herself, she turned to go and attend to her other duties.

* * *

><p>Rukia hid a grimace as she stood with her brother, instead keeping her mask on and smiling mechanically when she should. Byakuya had yet to introduce Hisana again so the focus seemed to be on her, specifically from fathers who wished for their sons to court her. After all, she could inherit the position as head of the family which so many of the noble men were eager to obtain her. '<em>That's what they want, to win me like some prize.'<em>Rukia thought with disgust as she smiled at the advances of another noble heir.

The father stepped forward and spoke to Byakuya. "Come now Byakuya, you can't keep such a beauty hidden from her duties for so long. She needs to marry someone who will suit her." Byakuya's remained impassive as he responded.

"I don't believe I gave you permission to call me by my given name." The man frowned slightly but covered it up quickly and looked down to his son.

"Come then, it was a pleasure to meet you Captain Kuchiki." Byakuya nodded in response and the noble heir looked at Rukia .

She looked back impassively and he smirked at her. "I'm sure we will be seeing each other again, Ms Kuchiki." Rukia fought back the urge to teach him a proper lesson and simply responded primly.

"We shall see." Then they left, leaving the Kuchiki siblings alone again. Only moments later a large man walked up with his son behind him, equally as bulbous.

"Ah, Captain Kuchiki. Your family always throws such nice events, with such nice food." Byakuya hid a disdainful look and nodded back at him, regarding him with his cold eyes.

The man was tall as well as fat, bearing a resemblance to the 2nd squad Lieutenants for good reason. "Thank you, Seiji Omaeda"

The man nodded in return and looked down at Rukia, who felt even smaller in comparison. "And this must be Rukia Kuchiki, yes I can see why you have concealed her for so long. But her being here must mean that she is...'on the market' as it were, she would make a fine match for-" Before he could continue to explain the _merits_of a union between the families the guard called out the arrival of another guest.

"Announcing the arrival of Ichigo Kurosaki." Rukia noticed that many of the nobles quietened down as Ichigo walked in, his bright hair instantly visible. Her eyes widened slightly as she took him in: he was wearing a predominantly black kimono with a dark green obi and green patterns spiralling up the arms of the robe. The robe made his hair and eyes stand out all the more and her breath caught slightly as she simply burned his image into her mind.

The chatter resumed shortly, though Rukia noticed that many of the nobles were now glancing at Ichigo whilst talking. Byakuya watched as the boy made straight for them, he had to admit the young Captain cleaned up well. He would have to remember to thank Hisana for requesting that formal wear suited to him was made up.

Ichigo drew on everything that he knew about formal situations as he arrived before the Kuchiki head and bowed. "Thank you for your generous invitation, Captain Kuchiki." Byakuya hid his surprise behind his mask but Rukia allowed her eyebrows to raise slightly before she got them under control.

"Who's this kid Kuchiki?" Ichigo struggled but remained passive as he looked over to the large man who seemed to be irritated that his conversation had been interrupted.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes slightly at the rudeness but responded in his normal tone. "Kurosaki is..." he seemed to think for a moment before he found the right word. " a friend."

Ichigo fought to hide his surprise, still curious as to why Byakuya had yet to refer to him by the only real title he had; that of a Captain. But if he hadn't there must be a reason for it so he wouldn't be the one to ruin whatever Byakuya's plan was.

The Omaeda elder scoffed slightly and glanced at Ichigo critically. "Kurosaki...I've heard of it before , is it some low ranking noble family? You must be just above the commoners then, you're lucky that you are even here." Before Ichigo could lose his control Byakuya spoke up ( to Ichigo's surprise) in his defence.

"I would be grateful if you didn't insult the boy...you see aside from being my friend he is also courting my sister. So to insult him is to insult her." The nobles eyes practically bulged out of his head at that and he practically shouted out.

"Him? He's courting the sister you've hidden for so long, he's barely a noble!" The attention of most of the hall was now focused on eavesdropping on the conversation and Rukia wanted to disappear into the floor. Preferably with Ichigo but she wasn't picky. Ichigo meanwhile was fighting to keep both his temper and his spiritual pressure in check, which he had been doing since his short discussion with Byakuya.

Byakuya, well aware of the many people looking at them responded coolly. " I assure you he is the most suitable candidate, unless you do not trust my judgement." Omaeda hesitated, it was one think to insult the boy but another to insult the head of the Kuchiki clan.

"I-I do not mean to, but I'm sure my son is more than suitable. He recently joined the stealth force, in time he will be as great as his cousin the Lieutenant as I am sure you know. This boy has nothing, no power, no money and no family name." Silence followed the angry statement and Byakuya realised that it was now that the entire hall had focused their attention on them, just as he had planned. Well Omaeda had helped unexpectedly but it only helped the situation in his eyes.

Glancing back at Ichigo and Rukia, noting their enraged and embarrassed positions he decided that now was the time. "You believe that your son will produce more powerful offspring, if I were to allow it, than Kurosaki? Politically you may be correct, however I'm afraid I must correct you as you seem woefully ignorant of recent events." He paused to take in Omaeda's angry and shocked face for a moment before finally continuing.

"As at least some of you should know, Ichigo Kurosaki is the Captain of squad five." The wind was suddenly blow out of Omaeda's sails as he remembered where he had heard that name before. It came hand in hand with his unofficial title: the Saviour of the Soul Society.

He gulped but refused to be put out by this face. "S-still, that is irrelevant. He is nothing, just a common boy and worse he was once a ryoka! Worse than the commoners in Rukongai!" Rukia's anger shot up but she held back as Byakuya responded coldly.

"Common...like her?" and he pointed, not to Rukia like Omaeda had expected, to which he had prepared a response, but to the entrance. His jaw dropped when he saw the mirror image of Rukia, looking between the two with wide eyes.

The crowed parted in a stunned silence as Hisana made her way to Byakuya and took his outstretched hand. "May I re-present my, until recently, late wife: Hisana Kuchiki. I am fortunate enough to have her back with me due to the assistance of both Captain Kurosaki and my sister, for that I am indebted to them." silence followed from all parties, the nobles expressions ranged from simply shocked to looks of veiled contempt whereas Ichigo and Rukia's were surprised, surprised that he would say something so deep, so publicly.

Omaeda finally shut his dropped jaw and glared at Ichigo for a moment before turning away with his son. "Very well, Captain Kuchiki."

Moments later the small group was swarmed with the Kuchiki nobles.

_Beta'd by .lyingtonguesareclumsy. and I forgot to add this to the chapter until now, very sorry!_

* * *

><p>(AN) has made me find a way of uploading this chapter without actually uploading it...yeah I had to paste this into an older file and the formatting is all screwed up for me, I hope it's more readable at your end.

Edit: the apperance actually seems to fix itself in the live version, so there shouldn't be an issue when I actually upload the file :P You probs won't notice a change!

On a lighter note the new arc that Kubo is hinting at seems really...strange xD But it looks like it will be so far. Thanks for the reviews as always! You really keep me going.


	36. That's a wrap

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

"What is this, Captain Kuchiki?"

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"This boy has fooled you, surely she's not-"

"Silence." The cries of dissent from the Kuchiki nobles around them were suddenly cut off by Byakuya's cold and commanding voice. The silence continued for a moment and no one dared to speak until an older man walked forward from the crowd and broke it.

"Lord Byakuya, would you be so kind as to explain why you have allowed yourself to be so obviously duped by these commoners?" Byakuya's eyes grew, if possible, colder as he focused on the old man before him.

Ichigo suppressed a snarl at the arrogant noble, Rukia's eyes were burning with indignation but she laid a hand on Ichigo's wrist to stop him from moving. The noble noticed this and scoffed. "It seems your adopted sister has found herself a pet dog to play with as well, I am surprised that you allow this."

Byakuya didn't respond immediately, but when he did, his tone was dangerously neutral. "I do not expect you to understand my reasoning as you are not head of the clan,Shichiro Kuchiki." He purposefully said his full name, giving his sister and the boy the information they needed.

If Ichigo's glare was bad before, it was terrifying now. Shichiro raised an eyebrow at the boy, not dissuaded by the fierce look he was being given, after all, he was untouchable. "You may be head, Byakuya, but your actions of late have made the council doubt whether or not your actions are in the best interest of the clan."

Silence again followed after that, less-than-subtle challenge and Byakuya stared down at the oblivious traitor. "Ignoring your insult to my wife for a moment, I imagine that you would find issue with the relationship between my sister and Captain Kurosaki?" The other elder nodded and looked at Ichigo with disdain.

"Yes, if we are talking about _that _issue then I don't see how you are allowing his courtship to continue. The boy may be a Captain, but he is still a commoner and not deserving of the honour you have handed out so freely." Byakuya gave a mental sigh, he knew that there was nothing that could be done for this man now. Shichiro was one of the eldest Kuchki's and had clung to the old ways whilst the clan attempted to move around him(slowly Byakuya would admit ).**  
><strong>  
>He gave the arrogant man one last look, knowing this may be the start of change in the Kuchiki clan, before he turned away from him and took Hisana's hand. "I see. It appears that there is no changing your mind on this matter, very well. If the rest of the Kuchiki clan would come with me we have other matters to discuss." Shichiro scoffed as Byakuya and Hisana walked away, the other Kuchiki's flocking to him.<p>

"You are overstepping your bounds, boy. You underestimate my influence to think that you can so carelessly ignore me. I will not allow you to walk away from this and shame this clan." Byakuya stopped but didn't turn back to him as he responded coldly.

"You have already shamed this clan, Shichiro. Henceforth, I will not recognise you as part of it and strip you of your position. Captain Kurosaki, Rukia; I leave this to you. Return to find me as soon as you have finished your business here." Shichiro floundered slightly along with a few stunned elders who had remained with him. He found his voice moments later, but before he could throw out a retort Ichigo stepped up to him, his face grim.

Shichiro looked at him with contempt. "What is this about, boy? Do you think that just because you can pleasure a _girl _like that, thatyou have authority over me, I-" He was cut offby a slap that resounded through the hall.

"How dare you! You are a despicable old man who shames the very name of noble." He cursed and looked down at Rukia, who had anger burning in her eyes and was itching to teach the man a lesson.

Shichiro just scoffed and walked forward to tower over her. "Such audacity could only come from the filth of Rukongai! Do you see what I mean my fellow nobles? This girl has no refinement, she is just a fraud dragged in by her arrogant brother to tread mud on our good name." Ichigo allowed him to continue his rant, purely becausehe was using every fibre of his being to force himself to stay put and **to **not break the man for his words.

_**"You know...I would be happy to give these stuffy pricks a show-"**_Shirosaki tried, but was instantly cut offby Ichigo's snarl.

'_Now is not the time, go bother Zangetsu.'_The hollow almost pouted, if only his King had a few less morals.

Containing his anger for now, Ichigo scowled fiercely at the noble. "Shichiro Kuchiki, you are being taken into custody by the fifth squad for numerous despicable crimes in Rukongai. You will come with us or we will take you by force." For once the smug look on Shichiro's face fell and the noble around him started gossiping almost instantly. He growled mentally, but gave no indication of his anger.

"I don't know what you are talking about, and I really think you should learn your place. Even Captainscan't get away with throwing wild accusations at the noble families." Ichigo was about to retort but Rukia got in before him.

"Actually, Shichiro, I believe my brother just ejected you from this family. You are now under no protection and even if you were your crimes are toogreat to ignore." The noble felt his eye twitch slightly and clenched his fists.

"Regardless, a crime must be committed against people for me to be taken into custody. You are not telling me that Central46 and the Seireitei are now counting those animals as people are y-" That was as far as he got before he was forcibly stopped, to gasps of surprise around the room.

Ichigo had embedded his fist into the man's stomach in the blink of an eye, his restraint having finally broken at the sheer arrogance of the noble. Glaring down, he picked the man up with his other hand and slung him over his shoulder, preparing to leave. He glanced down at Rukia, who had raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" He questioned and she sighed and looked out at the sea of shocked faces.

"I thought you wanted to do this quietly? Though I suppose it was foolish of me to hope that you had learnt some restraint." She smirked up at him and he just scowled back as he started to walk for the door, the crowd parting before him.

"Whatever midget, if I don't have any restraint, what do you call kickinghis ass when he was insulting you?" She looked back up at his scowl, slightly surprised, before smiling slightly and looking back.

"Fool, I don't need your help if you hadn't noticed." Ichigo chuckled lightly as they made it do the door that lead out of the hall.

As he opened it he paused and looked back into the room. "Eh, sorry about the disturbance to your party, I guess." With that sincere apology he left, Rukia beside him.

* * *

><p>Hisana sat next to Byakuya as the Kuchiki elders around them found their place, she was slightly nervous of what direction this meeting could take. Byakuya noticed and felt a need to comfort her, but pushed that back for now; it was not the time for that with all the elders watching.<p>

"Now that we have gathered, perhaps you would be so kind as to explain the current situation to us?" One of the elders asked, adjusting her glasses primly.

Byakuya nodded but did not answer her question directly. "I will, of course, but which situation are you talking about?"

The elder woman grit her teeth slightly and responded immediately. "Well let'sstart with your..._wife _shall we? Then we will move on to the boy and your sister. And to the apparent situation with Shichiro." There was a slight muttering about the second,but Byakuya ignored it and nodded his head again.

He motioned to Hisana as he started talking. "As you can see, Hisana is very much alive. This is due to a swift transition through the reincarnation cycle. Iam sure you are aware thatthis is exceedingly rare, but she is here as a result."

Another elder raised his voice to interject. "I can at least understand that my lord, but surely she will have lost her memories if that were the case?" Byakuya paused in his explanation to figure out a way to word the next part.

When he started, it was slow and deliberate. "I am afraid I do not completely understand the mechanics myself, as the memory recall was done by someone more scientificthan I." He fought back a grimace at that, as he knew the previously exiledscientist would tease him to no end if he found out. As would the werecat. "However I cannot tell you who assisted me, as he prefers to remain anonymous and I do not wish to betray his trust after he has aided me so." There were more murmurs of dissent throughout the small room they resided in before finally the old woman that had spoken first voiced her opinion.

"It seems you have already made up your mind on this matter considering your abrupt dismissal of Shichiro. In that case I will schedule her official re-admittance into the clan" A frown appeared on her face as she continued. "Now onto the other matter; that of your sister and the Captain courting her."

Byakuya nodded and saw Hisana relax slightly out of the corner of his eye. It was shewho spoke up first in defence of her sister. "I do not see the issue here. My sister is happy, from what Byakuya has told me the boy has been good for her. Why should we break them apart?" Instead of agreement there were scoffs and chuckles around the room, Hisana frowned and looked slightly confused.

Another old male elder spoke up. "Lady Hisana, I appreciate that you have been gone a long time but you of all people should know that your case is an exception. Noble marriages are a political tool, so what are we to gain from gaining Kurosaki?"

"_Captain _Kurosaki." Byakuya reminded, softly. Whilst the boy maynot put much stock in manners and titles, the elders should have already known. The old elder bowed his head in apology, and Hisana responded with a sad note in her voice.

"I cannot answer that, however I can tell you this. If we try and deny them this relationship...my sister will not remain in this family. It may be her last resort and she will not wish to take it, but I'm sure it has already crossed her mind. Her faith has already been shaken by the actions of that elder who my husband dismissed, I would not test her now." There was silence aside from a few murmurs after statement.

It was broken by a comparatively young elder who snickered and muttered, loud enough for it to carry to Byakuya. "Well at least we would be rid of that problem then." Hisana gasped and Byakuya's eyes grew cold again as he fixed his glare on the young upstart.

"Remember your place,_boy. _You will not speak ill of those above you, especially if they are related to me." The boy gulped but Byakuya did not stop, despite turning his attention away from him. "As for what Captain Kurosaki could bring to this family, at least one advantage is obvious. Young or not, Kurosaki is one of the most powerful Captains in the Gotei 13, if not the most powerful. The only reason I cannot be sure is that he has not yet found the need to go into bankai since his return from Hueco Mundo wherehis power grew beyond what we have already seen in the Winter War." The elders nodded in agreement, some more reluctantly than others and the old woman spoke up again.

"That's very true my lord, but what of political power? The boy, regardless of his position is a commoner." She attempted to not insult him despite her wish to, she had seen the result if she did.

Byakuya considered this, then responded, inwardly happy at his own quick thinking. "Politically in that sense maybe, however he does have a very significant amount of support behind him. Considering his publicly appointed title of 'Saviourof the soul-society' it is no surprise. Not only that, but he has the support of the commoners. Whilst you might consider this useless, it may prove to be of assistance in the future." There were more reluctant head nods and agreements as the elders considered this.

They has all seen the impact that the boy had made, shattering theirtraditions and questioning their morals and laws with ease. He was supported by most, if not all of theCaptains of the Gotei 13 and was considered a hero by many other shinigami and Rukongai dwellers alike. Despite this, he never abused the influence he had over people, which only served to make people admire him all the more.

Byakuya spoke up again, noticing the shift in the faces of his clan. "We have little to lose and everything to gain should this relationship progress to marriage. I have no doubt that it will, it is simply a matter of time." There were more murmurs of dissent from the elders and Hisana hid a smile with her hand. Despite his disapproval of Ichigo, Byakuya seemed to at least understand that he really had little choice in the matter.

A few moments later Byakuya spoke up again. "If you have finished, I will let you vote on this matter, as it will affect the entire clan." It was no secret that even as he said that, the outcome had already been assured. Regardless of what they chose, Byakuya would overrulethem if he needed to,so he would still win.

The old woman decided to get it over with and began the vote, "Very well, all those opposed raise their hands." Lookingaround to check who had raised theirhands. No one had, despite some of the elders looking very sour at this fact.

She spoke again "All those who accept the courtship and possible marriage of Rukia Kuchiki to Ichigo Kurosaki, raise their hands." Though reluctantly in some cases, all hands were raised and Byakuya nodded.

"Very well, now that that has been settled I have asked Kurosaki and my sister to join us and it seems they are returning now-" Byakuya stopped talking as he heard raised voices emanating from beyond the closed door.

"Are you sure this is the right way Rukia? The other two rooms were empty after all." They heard a grunt of pain after that and Rukia's irritated voice reached them.

"Of course I am, it's Nii-sama's reiatsu. I am perfectly capable of finding it. It's not my fault that he happened to go through two other rooms to get to this one." They barely heard Ichigo's response, but felt him stop before the door.

"Whatever, let's get this over with so we can try another one." Moments later the door opened and Ichigo looked in, still in his formal Kimono.

He couldn't see Byakuya from his angle and rolled his eyes. "Well I don't see him, do any of you know where Byakuya is?" Byakuya wanted to hit the boy himself. Anythingbecause of the embarrassment he was causing. After all he hadonly just convinced them this would be a good idea.

Instead he maintained his stoic façade and spoke. "Kurosaki, I am indeed in here, please enter with Rukia and come over to me." He heardRukia's triumphant, not quietenough whisper as Ichigo scowled and walked in.

"Hah, I told you so." Rukia walked in just behind him a smug look on her face until she noticed that all the elders were present. In an instant she adopted a similar mask to Byakuya and followed Ichigo until he stopped before Byakuya.

"Sit." The single command was all he gave and Ichigo followed it grudgingly, sitting beside Byakuya.

Rukia followed suit and sat beside Ichigo, inwardly worried as to the reason that the Kuchiki elders had gathered. She voiced this concern to her brother. "Nii-sama, for what purpose have you called Ichigo and I to you?" Ichigo noticed her more formal speech and took that as a hint that these men and women before him were powerful in some way or another.

He silently groaned. Hehated dealing with the nobles. Byakuya looked at the two of them with a piercing gaze before he spoke. "You are here as the Kuchiki elders have accepted your courtship, as such we must inform Kurosaki of the terms and also allow the elders a chance to view your partner themselves." Rukia nodded and all attention suddenly became focused on Ichigo, making him slightly uncomfortable.

One of the elders spoke up, looking at Ichigo almost curiously. "Captain Kurosaki, I am well aware of your actions and that you have a great deal of popular support. So I feel I must ask, why are you interested in Rukia Kuchiki?" Ichigo was about to raise his voice in response, thinking that he was implying Rukia wasn't worth his time, but paused before he did so. He thought over the words and looked back at the man. '_No, he doesn't mean to insult her...he really doesn't understand.'_

Ichigo relaxed slightly and frowned trying to figure out what he should say. "I, Uh...Rukia is-" He stopped abruptly, scowling at his own inability to figure out his own thoughts.

"Do you want the power and influence that would come with this union?" It was another elder that spoke up now, his eyes just as cold as the rest.

Ichigo's scowl deepened and he shook his head. "Nah, I don't care about that stuff. I have enough money as it is, I never spend it and politics has never interested me. Hell, if it were up to me I would simply never associate with the nobles...but I suppose I'll have to." Rukia struggled to suppress a groan at Ichigo's blatant insults towards her family.

The elders muttered together slightly. "So would you mind telling us why you wish to court her?" Ichigo scowled as the question was repeated, after a few moments struggling he looked away and mumbled something, his face turning red.

Rukia started and cursed mentally, she hadn't noticed that she had been leaning towards him in anticipation. The elder who had asked the question snorted derisively and responded. "Would you mind speaking up Captain Kurosaki, I didn't hear that. Unless you can give me a reason for this relationship we may continue to assume that you merely want access to our level of society." Ichigo growled in response and paused for a moment to think before he looked back around, still red faced.

"Dammit, shut up! I-I love her, okay?" Ichigo confessed, though it wasn't quite as romantic as he had first envisioned. Sure he knew that they were just words, but they were given such weight that he had found himself pressured to say it. Sure he knew how he felt and could see she felt the same way, he couldn't help but be hesitant over her response.

Rukia's eyes widened and she stared at the blushing man, she had admitted that to herself but hadn't toldIchigo. They weren't the type of coupleto have long, deep conversations and she just hadn't felt the need to. Now it had come out into the open at the worst possible time. Sure,romance was subjective and neither of them were into the mushier side of things, but no one wanted to talk about their feelings in the middle of a room of judgemental old people.

She had her own blush now and lent over and spoke softly so only he could hear him. "It might not be the best time but...I love you too, Ichigo." The Captain's blush remained and he nodded slightly to show that he had heard her.

Hisana smiled and suppressed a giggle at the pair, she had a soft spot for...well lots of things but romance was one of the things that she loved to see. She looked over to Byakuya and saw his face passive as ever. '_Of course, he's not going to show anything with them here.' _One of the few things she sometimes disliked were the nobles who Byakuya resided with. Theyseemed to constantly want to split them up and were nothing but trouble.

The noble blinked in surprise before he sighed slightly. "I see, well that is a reason I suppose." Ichigo rolled his eyes at the casual way in which they dismiss it. Theywere just as he had imagined them.

"Is there anything else I need to be here for then?" He asked in a bored tone, Ichigo would be happy to leave this place as soon as possible.

"First, we must inform you of proper courting procedure. First of all..." Ichigo groaned mentally as the man started reeling of a list of dosand do nots, emphasising the importance of appearance over reality. Rukia glanced at Ichigo mid-rant and saw that his gaze was glassed over, his eyes staring unblinking at the elder with a vacant look in them.

She gritted her teeth in irritation. "_He could at least listen, if I have to pay attention so should he.'_She would, of course, punish him for it later.

"...urosaki, Captain Kurosaki?" Ichigo blinked out of his daze as he heard his name being called, blinking and looking around for the one who had spoken.

Apparently at one point the female elder at the front had taken over again for she was looking at him again now. Ichigo scratched the back of his head uncomfortably, not sure what direction the conversation had taken whilst he had not been paying attention.

Byakuya resisted the urge to sigh (as it was undignified) and brought Kurosaki up to date. "To simplify it for you, Kurosaki, do you understand the boundaries which have been set?" Ichigo took a chance when he answered, praying that it wasn't something ridiculous.

"Sure, whatever you say." Byakuya nodded and looked out over the gathering of nobles, most of which were giving Ichigo dirty looks.

"Very well, it has been confirmed that Ichigo Kurosaki will start his courtship of my sister...in one month." Byakuya let hit lip twitch up as he heard the boy groan and saw him drop his head into his hands. The young Captain had to suffer after all, and this is was the best way, after all physical pain wouldn't last very long with him.

Byakuya continued. "In addition to this, once the courting officially starts, you will only display physical affection after we allow it, and you are under no circumstances allowed to preform sexual acts. This is only allowed if your relationship progresses to a soul bonding, if not then Rukia's honour will remain pure." As he finished, the three people surrounding him had all turned red.

Hisana, Rukia and Ichigo were all sporting a deep blush from the, rather explicit statement that Byakuya had given. Ichigo finally found his voice as he stood up, making sure he didn't link eyes with anyone as he scratched the back of his head again in embarrassment.

"Right, sure. C'mon Rukia, we're done here." Rukia, who was mortified by her brother, didn't object as she stood and gave a quick goodbye to her siblings and the elders. Sheand Ichigo left as quickly as they could after that, neither speaking to the other.

* * *

><p>Their silence continued until they reached the exit to the Kuchiki estate, where Ichigo suddenly stopped and looked at Rukia, his expression shocked. "Wait...Does that mean we can't even kiss anymore?" Rukia had to chuckle at his slow realisation and smirked up at him.<p>

"Well, that was what Nii-sama said werethe terms of our courtship at any rate. We have to wait until he says till we can do anything, ah, intimate." Ichigo's face immediately flushed as he thought back to Byakuya and Rukia's followed soon after. "Not _that _intimate. Pervert, you'reas bad as Kon."

Ichigo started and scowled back at her. "Hey! Don't compare me to that damn plush toy, I just wanted to keep our relationship on the same level…" He grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away.

Rukia sighed and looked over her shoulder, checking that they were far enough away from the mansion. Seeing that they were alone, she pulled him down and captured his lips in a brief, passionate kiss. Ichigo was surprised and even tried to pull back briefly, to check Byakuya wasn't watching them (he wouldn't put it past him to spy on them to make their life more difficult). But Rukia would have none of it and fisted her hands in his robed, yanking him closer to her. It didn't take long for him to submit and encircle her waist in his arms, fighting back against her domineering tongue.

Rukia pulled back from Ichigo, both panting hard and his head still being held down by her. She looked into his eyes, her own swirling with lust and love before speaking in a husky voice. "If you think I'm going to let him stop me having this then you're as big of an idiot as I always say. We just have to be more...careful." Ichigo grinned back at her and raised his hand to brush his hand on her cheek.

"I didn't know I had such an effect on you, Rukia. I think we're cutting it fine here though, I'll see you at work." A blush crept up her cheeks andshe slapped his hand away lightly. She felt slightly embarrassed now at her lack of control, but the thought of _not _being allowed access to Ichigo, especially when he would be working with her all day, every day…

"Don't let it go to your head, I suppose a hundred years without that special someone, as you humans say, may have more to do with it than you." Ichigo smirked in response and leaned down into her, his face close to hers. Very close.

"Oh really, then how come I can hear your heartbeat from here, midget." Less than a second later he was gone, his presence quickly returning to the squad five barracks. She clenched her fists in irritation: now she would have to deal with cocky Ichigo next time she saw him.

She glared at the spot where he had just been before he flash-stepped away. "How the hell did the berry get so good at flirting?" Rukia couldn't fathom how he had suddenly gained that...talent, unless it was somehow natural to him and just hadn't made an appearance before now. Either way, part of her wanted the flustered boy back, the other wanted to see what the man could offer.

'_Well I suppose it doesn't matter in the end.' _She mused to herself. '_Because I have both.'_She let a small smile grace her lips as she thought about him, that his sudden confidence could be gone in a flash if she tried.

No their relationship hadn't changed, the stakes had just become higher.

With that thought she turned to go back into the mansion and find her sister, they still had a lot to catch up on after all. Her last thoughts of Ichigo bounced around her head as she walked past the guards, her elegant Kimono making them stand to attention.

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><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>  
><em><br>_(A/N) Yeah I'm actually behind on this story atm. I need to get chapter 40 written but I've just been soo unenthused with anything. I will do it trust me xD but I've been ill recently and on top of that I discovered blueshipping...which I now love aha. Ah well, I''m planning on finishing 40 today when I get my brain in gear. You honestly shouldn't notice a difference :P

So there's a time gap coming up next chapter, it won't be large, two months. I'm only telling you so you're not surprised haha, I'm sorry if you wanted more but to be honest their relationship isn't going to change in that time because of Byakuya and co. Noble courtship and all that.

I haven't got around to replying to reviews...very sorry about that! They really are always good to have but I've been busy and lazy in equal measure :/


	37. Gotei 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

_**Arc Four - Path to power**_

"Lady Rukia...Lady Rukia!" Rukia shifted as she heard her name being called, along with a loud knocking on the door of her room. She blinked blearily and rubbed her eyes, yawning as she sat up on her futon and looked at the door.

"What is it?" She questioned. The servant, taking that as admittance, walked in bowing lowly to Rukia and closing the door behind her to prevent prying eyes.

The female servant then turned back to Rukia and responded. "Lady Hisana has requested that you join her and Byakuya for breakfast now, before Captain Kurosaki arrives to walk you to work." Rukia frowned but nodded, throwing the blanket of her as she stood.

"Very well, please inform my Nii-sama and Nee-san that I will be with them shortly." The maid nodded and left Rukia to get ready for breakfast.

When the maid had left her in peace, Rukia frowned. For some unknown reason her brother had demanded that Ichigo start accompanying her to and from the fifth squad barracks after they had started officially courting. She was used to him returning with her after they had finished their work or when they were finished whatever they decided to do after work but usually she went to the barracks on her own. Sighing slightly and making a mental note to ask her brother about it she started to get ready for the unexpected breakfast.

She smiled softly as she slipped on her shihakusho, her mind drifting to the addition in the Kuchiki manor. Her sister had made such an impact on both her and Byakuya's lives, she was like a warm candle that burned all the time, making the manor feel so much more like a home.

After their initial introduction and subsequent conversations, both had found it a bit awkward when they were alone together. Rukia didn't know how to act around her, she didn't know what would offend her and if her, less than lady-like qualities would push her sister away. Surprising as it sounds, that awkward tension was broken by an even more awkward moment, when Hisana received a gift from the SWA, who had learned of her return. Though she was not a shinigami, the SWA felt that because she had such a close relationship to Rukia, it was a very good thing that she had returned.

Rukia secretly thought that it was that it was more like that they hoped she would soften her brother up a bit, so they could get away with doing more in the Kuchiki manor, but didn't voice her suspicions. After all, she was hoping for that too. So they ended up sending her a gift, that turned out to be a tad inappropriate.

Rukia blushed slightly as she remembered it.

_-Flash back-_

_Hisana hummed to herself as she looked out over the peaceful garden, her hands being tickled by the long grass. While she hadn't missed anything per say, because she couldn't remember the time she had spent dead, or alive, whichever, if there was one thing she would have missed it would be this garden. This one in particular was one of the oldest in the grounds, secluded in the maze of the manor it gave her time to be alone in a picture of beauty._

_The grass was slightly longer than usual, because she requested that it be kept that way, and small flowers sprouted up around the edge of a koi pond in the centre. She remembered the times she had_

_spent here with Byakuya when she had convinced him he needed to relax for a moment._

_She was so lucky to be back here._

_'If only I could rebuild the bond I broke.' She thought sadly to herself, Rukia's more mature face flashing into her mind. Her sister had a sad past, full of pain and loss, constantly being abandoned by those around her whether by choice or not. Hisana wanted to be there for her as she should have been, to let Rukia know it was okay to be herself around her; the woman who argued fiercely with someone more powerful, and won. The woman who loved that same man, yet had no problem kicking him into shape and bruising his shins if he did something stupid, in fact it was because she loved him that she wouldn't let him fail._

_But around her, Rukia always became more Kuchiki than Hisana would like, unsure of herself and hiding it behind small talk. 'Does she think I'll reject her?' Hisana considered, before sighing and lifting her hand from the grass to look at it sadly. 'Why wouldn't she, I abandoned her after all.'_

_Her depressing thoughts were broken off by the sound of a shinigami flash-stepping next to her. Hisana jumped slightly and looked up, seeing a prim-looking woman with glasses and book standing beside her._

_"Hisana Kuchiki, I hope I'm not interrupting you?"_

_Hisana shook her head and looked back at her, confused. "Ah, no not at all. But may I ask why you are here?" The woman nodded and pulled out a small package that she had been holding beside the book._

_"Of course, I am Nanao Ise, here as vice-president of the SWA to give you this small gift. It's a miracle that you have returned and...I thought you might be feeling a bit down." Hisana's eyes widened slightly as she saw Nanao smile softly at her before she bowed quickly and left with a short goodbye._

_Hisana looked down at the package in her hands and smiled to herself, wondering what it could be. "Thank you." She said, even knowing that the shinigami who had given this to her would be far away by now._

_Gingerly she opened the packaging, which was similar to a letters but seemed to have more protection in it. She stuck her tongue out slightly in frustration as she tried to get through it without damaging it, still having no idea what they could have sent to her. Finally she got the package open, ripping the thick envelope at the top and opening it up so she could peek inside._

_All she could make out was multiple cards in the envelope, confused, she turned the package over and slipped out the items into her hand. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked down at her hands, and the items in them._

_"Wha-" she started, before stopping herself and focusing on the items in her hands._

_They were pictures, pictures of the Captains by the looks of it. She looked through them curiously, noticing that each one of them looked somehow like a professional photo-shoot, despite being obviously not at the same time. She was more shocked, and even gave a small smile when she saw one of Byakuya, standing alone and looking back over his shoulder at the camera in some part of the Kuchiki manor._

_'That women's association must have done well to get these sorts of pictures.' She thought to herself, also wondering how fun it would be to do something like that._

_Her thoughts were cut short as she moved Byakuya's picture and her eyes dropped to the last one in the pile, her eyes widening in shock and her cheeks instantly turning red from the image. It was at this unfortunate time that Rukia chose to enter, appearing beside her sister._

_"Hello Nee-san, I..." She trailed off when her eyes registered the sight before her. Hisana was sitting alone, her cheeks burning red and her eyes wide...whilst looking at the photo of Ichigo that the SWA had started selling._

_Hisana's head snapped up to Rukia and her mouth opened like a fish before she looked back at the image, then finally resting her eyes on Rukia. "W-wait, i-it's not what it looks like Rukia." She stuttered, desperately trying to stop their relationship from spiralling into a whole new level of awkward with her sister._

_Rukia didn't say anything for a moment, rationalising the situation in her mind. Sure, she knew that Ichigo's picture would receive...attention from the female population of the Soul Society, but she hadn't thought her sister would be one of them. So, calmly, she sat down next to her sister and looked away._

_"Okay, so what is it?" She asked, waiting for her sister to explain this to her. Hisana breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Rukia had enough patience, at least with her, to let her wriggle out of the tight spot she had gotten herself into._

_She explained it slowly. "Well you see, I was simply sitting here when a woman from the SWA, Nanao Ise I believe, appeared and gave me thess." She held up the slightly mangled envelope that was resting in her lap. "And told me that this was a gift from the SWA because, well she just said they decided to give them to me."_

_She deliberately left out that it was supposed to help improve her mood, after all Rukia was, indirectly, the cause of it. "So I started looking through them, I thought they were impressive pictures but then I got to the one of Ichigo and, well, you arrived."_

_Rukia smiled slightly, leaning back into the grass. As she expected Hisana had just been unfortunate in her timing, her sister never caused intentional pain to anyone, in fact she did the opposite if she could. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure half the Seireitei has that picture by now. I was just surprised to see you blushing over him..." Rukia mused slyly; she felt at ease with her for some reason, the whole scenario was amusing to her._

_Hisana's blush returned and she fiddled with her hands nervously. "W-well I don't want to be improper but Ichigo is quite a-attractive and the photo looks very s-suggestive." Rukia chuckled slightly at her sisters discomfort before she sat up to look at the picture._

_"I suppose he is..." Her mind drifted a bit as she looked at the picture, all sorts of idea's coming up. Some normal for her, some, not so much._

_Hisana turned to look at her as Rukia's eyes glazed over slightly and it clicked that she had been playing with her. She huffed mentally, she may be kind but she didn't enjoy being taken for granted or have people think they could abuse it._

_'Well, I need to defend my honour.' She thought, raising her voice slightly but still keeping it soft._

_"Though Byakuya is better looking." The response was instantaneous, Rukia's eyes sharpened slightly and she looked at Hisana, raising an eyebrow._

_"What was that?" Hisana smirked to herself but quickly replaced it with an innocent expression as she looked into her sisters eyes._

_"I just think that Byakuya is a more attractive man." Rukia frowned slightly and held up the picture of Ichigo next to the picture of her brother in Hisana's hands._

_She squinted at the for a moment before looking skeptically back at her sister. "Nii-sama is beautiful...but he is too effeminate for me, and you can't deny Ichigo's attractiveness Nee-san." Whilst Rukia didn't want to insult either her sister or brother (or think about him in that way at all) this was quickly becoming a battle of Ichigo's pride in her eyes._

_Hisana felt the same and glanced at the picture of Ichigo. "True, but maybe it is because Byakuya looks refined that you think he looks slightly effeminate, unlike Ichigo who is certainly less..." She trailed off, not wanting to directly insult Ichigo as it wasn't in her nature._

_But Rukia got the message and locked eyes with her sister, violet meeting violet as they stared down each other. Neither backed down, Rukia's face was being held in a slightly challenging position and Hisana was looking back, her face and posture slightly coy and innocent. The mental conflict continued for a few moments longer until they both snapped, unable to hold back any more._

_They started laughing._

_They both cracked at the same time, Rukia started snickering and Hisana started out giggling lightly but before long it was full blown laughter, the tension between them lifting with the breeze as the estranged sisters collapsed into fits of giggles together in the soft grass. They were still giggling together when Byakuya suddenly appeared, looking down at the two of them with surprise._

_"What's going on here?" Both sisters turned to look at the man who had unknowingly been part of their joke and started laughing again. Byakuya watched them for a few moments before he sighed and flash-stepped back to his office, his lips twitching upwards as he left. It made him happy to see the two of them finally connecting as they should._

_Rukia and Hisana's eyes met when their laughter had slowed to the occasional snort or chuckle and a smile grew on the Lieutenant's lips. Hisana's smile followed and she reached out a hand, resting it in between her and Rukia. Without hesitation Rukia extended her own, the two small hands meeting in the middle and holding each other lightly._

_"I'm sorry." Hisana said softly, repeating herself for she still felt guilty for what she had done to her. Rukia simply smiled and tightened her grip slightly._

_"Don't be, we are who we are and we are sisters. Aren't we?" Hisana looked back into her eyes for a moment before she gave a small, pure smile._

_"Yes, of course we are."_

_-End Flashback-_

After that event their relationship had progressed quickly, or as quickly as could be hoped for, Hisana and Rukia had grown closer, their bond strengthening into a more sisterly one as they spent more time in the same house. She had learned more about her sister's personality as time went on, and her sister and showed more and more of her true self around her as they grew closer.

Hisana was genuinely kind, reserved and spoke softly most of the time. Despite her kind nature, Hisana also enjoyed having fun, most prominently she enjoyed the odd practical joke. It was never anything serious, just the odd little prank or something innocent like that. And though she was loving to the people around her and anyone she met, she wasn't a push over by any means. If someone tried to take advantage of her nature, she would quickly catch on and take control of the situation, all without raising her voice.

Rukia also discovered that Hisana enjoyed gossip and getting involved with people's lives to try and help them almost as much as Rangiku, when she had been not so subtly giving Rukia and Ichigo ideas about how to _spend time_together without Byakuya knowing. Rukia could never tell when her sister was being innocent or playing one of her games, but it at least made things more interesting between them

Strapping her blade to her shihakusho she left her room, quickly making her way to the main dining hall for Breakfast. It didn't take long, and by the time she got there she was no longer tired. She had never had much of an issue with waking up early anyway. It didn't take her long to get to the dining hall so she slid the door open gently and made her way inside.

Hisana looked up from Byakuya and smiled at her. "Ah, good morning Rukia. I'm sorry if we woke you up early but I thought this might be enjoyable as it's a nice morning." As she said that the servants slid open the large doors on one side of the room, letting the rising sun envelope it in a soft glow.

Rukia smiled back at her and sat down at the middle of the table, Byakuya and Hisana at either head of the table. The servants quickly brought out the food, setting it before them and retreating back to the kitchen within moments. All three of them thanked the servants, Byakuya with just a nod of the head, and started eating.

Hisana spoke up a few moments later, putting her tea down with a slight noise of contentment. "I'm very happy you could join us Rukia." Rukia nodded and waited until she had finished eating the toast in her mouth before she responded.

"It's no problem, I don't mind waking up early." Byakuya nodded approvingly at her Kuchiki-like nature. But before he could continue the conversation they were interrupted by a loud crash outside the door.

"God dammit!" Rukia's ears perked up and she turned to the door as it opened because she recognised the voice, her eyes widening in surprise. Her suspicions were confirmed moments later when at the entrance stood a harassed and tired looking Ichigo, he was leaning on the door frame and there were slight bags under his eyes.

Byakuya closed his eyes to maintain his composure, trying to ignore his fellow Captain's improper arrival. "Kurosaki, I see you decided to join us." Ichigo scowled in response and made his way over to the low table, dropping down next to Rukia whilst grumbling a response

"It wasn't like I had a choice, you sent me a message telling me you were having breakfast with Rukia and that I was expected to attend." Rukia frowned at his state and poked him to grab his attention.

"Ichigo..." He slumped around to her and she took in his sleep deprived state, her frown deepened as she looked him over.

He gave her a weak smile and responded with a yawn. "Mornin' Rukia." Though she was slightly worried for him she couldn't help but smile back at him, he looked so boyish at that moment despite the haori draped loosely around his shoulders.

Hisana decided to snap them out of their small daze as she too took in his state. "Good morning Ichigo, I'm sorry if this is inappropriate but I can't help but notice you look tired, we didn't wake you did we?" Ichigo dragged his eyes away from Rukia to respond, putting his arms behind his head as he stretched and responded.

"Nah, I'm sorry about this, I've just had to work late for the last few nights and this time I didn't get to bed until an hour ago actually." Hisana frowned and Rukia growled, slapping him on the shoulder likely with the back of her hand.

He turned to her with irritation but she beat him to it. "Idiot, why didn't you ask for my help. You can't be an effective Captain if your falling asleep in the office, what did you need to stay behind for anyway?" Ichigo's eyes softened slightly as he caught the concern in her voice and he waved her off, leaning down onto the table.

"Eh, you didn't need to be there. I was only making sure some of the new recruits got something into their heads." Rukia raised an eyebrow and noticed his scowl but didn't push the matter. If he wasn't going to say then she would either leave it alone...or pester him later.

She huffed but glared at him. "Fine, but if you fall asleep I'm not doing your work for you." Ichigo just chuckled, too tired to care at this point. His eyes drooped slightly but he forced them to stay open as he relaxed to the side slightly, unconsciously resting his head on Rukia's shoulder. Rukia started blushing at his actions in front of her brother and sister, especially her brother who (even after they had started courting) had made sure there was as little physical contact between them as possible.

Byakuya glared at Ichigo but he barely noticed through his half-lidded eyes, he sighed slightly and asked what had been on his mind since he had received the butterfly from Byakuya. "So what's this about then, Byakuya?" The older Captain ignored the informal address, he had learned to ignore this from the young Captain.

"You are here because Hisana and I believe that the time has come to advance your relationship." His statement was short but left a resounding silence in its wake.

However Ichigo wasn't paying attention so just mumbled a response. "Hmm, sure whatever." Rukia however, was frozen, so it was up to Hisana to try and get Ichigo's attention.

"Uh, Ichigo do you know what the next step is for you in a noble courtship?" She tried, to which Ichigo just lifted his head to look blearily at her.

"Can I finally have a moment alone with her without Byakuya having someone crouching behind the windows?" He mumbled, causing Rukia to blush as she caught the comment and Byakuya to stiffen slightly and glare at his sisters' partner.

Hisana gave an uncomfortable chuckle and took a sip of her tea, eyeing Byakuya who resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Clearly he was going to have to be the one to explain it to him.

"I will ignore your _suspicions_for now to inform you of your future. The next step in your relationship with Rukia is to get betrothed to her." The room was silent again, Rukia looking at her hands nervously, unsure how to deal with the whole situation or how Ichigo would deal with it.

It wasn't likely to be pretty.

Ichigo blinked in surprise, his entire body tensing for a few moments as Byakuya's words rang in his ears. When he finally understood what was going on his eyes grew wide and he leapt up, his eyes flicking between Rukia to Byakuya. When he found his voice it was loud and tinged with anger.

"What the hell, Byakuya? You can't just spring this shit on me!" Byakuya looked up at him impassively.

"I don't know why you are overreacting Kurosaki, you and Rukia are clearly compatible, so why wait?" Ichigo spluttered and Rukia spoke up on his behalf, guessing his problem with her brother's suggestion.

"In the human world, their relationships go from courtship, to potentially moving in with each other and then marriage. It can take a long period of time for a couple to end up married and the may never do so." Ichigo nodded in agreement but Byakuya waved a hand in dismissal at their comments.

"You should have known this was coming Rukia, you cannot remain in this limbo in your relationship forever. Whilst I still have certain misgivings, you have been together for the allotted period of time without any..._significant_breaches in the terms we agreed." He looked pointedly at the pair who both blushed slightly at having been caught a few of the times Byakuya's spies had been around.

Ichigo scowled and growled a response. "I have no idea about your noble system, but when it comes to me and Rukia, we'll take things at our own pace." The stand-off dragged out between Ichigo and Byakuya, neither willing to give up their ideals.

Luckily, Hisana interjected, her soft and calm voice washing over them. "We respect your view Ichigo, Rukia do you feel the same way?" Rukia looked up and nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"I do, I'm sorry Nee-san." Hisana smiled back at her and responded happily.

"Don't worry so much Rukia, you know I'll support you." Rukia looked up to meet her sister's gaze and reciprocated her smile. Of course Hisana was on her side, while she thought that Hisana continued. "So if you'll both listen to me then I have a solution that might work, as long as Byakuya agrees with me.

Byakuya broke his glaring contest with Ichigo and nodded at his wife. "Very well, let us hear your suggestion."

Hisana's smile grew slightly and she spoke up brightly. "Thank you. My suggestion is that whilst you do not get engaged as such, you both agree that you will marry at some point. This will satisfy both the clan and your own desire to move your relationship forward at a slower pace." Ichigo paused to think it over, then sighed and looked over at her, scowling.

"If that's the best we can get then I suppose it might be okay, as long as no one other than the clan elders and aware and don't spread it or anything. What do you think, Rukia?" Rukia looked over to him and nodded in agreement, though she was still conflicted about the whole thing.

"That would be the best option. Thank you Nee-san." It wasn't that the idea was terrible, of her marrying Ichigo, in fact it made her feel slightly light headed to think about it. The problem was that even after four months of being together their relationship had not advanced past the physical contact that came with 'making out' as Ichigo called it. They were much more comfortable with it now, but they needed time to explore each other, which they hadn't had with the recent work load being heavy due to an influx of shinigami joining the Gotei 13.

Ironically it was partly Ichigo's fault for effectively being their poster boy.

'_At least we both want the same thing.'_Rukia thought, remembering the times when their hands had enjoyed exploring the others body, pushing the boundaries of what they could get away with without Byakuya annihilating Ichigo. She pushed the thoughts away, now was not the time.

'_But with this engagement of sorts, perhaps Nii-sama will let us have some privacy.'_She stored that thought for later, very interested on where that train of thought would lead.

Hisana's voice brought her mind out of the metaphorical gutter it was descending into. "Well I'm glad we could sort that out. As nice as it is to have both of you here, shouldn't you be getting to work?" As if to illustrate her point, two hell butterfly's flew in through the large open doors, one heading for Ichigo and the other for Byakuya.

'_All Captains are to report with their Lieutenants for a Captain's meeting.'_Both of the Captains stood and the two women looked at them for an answer.

Ichigo responded, blinking some of the sleep out of his eyes. "C'mon Rukia, we've got a meeting with the Captain-commander." Rukia nodded and stood, following them as thy started to leave the room. The three of them bade farewell to Hisana and Byakuya promised he would make it up to her despite her assurance that she understood and it didn't matter to her.

* * *

><p>The three of them arrived with the soft sound of shunpo, Byakuya walking swiftly ahead of them to the entrance to the meeting hall. Ichigo and Rukia trailed behind him, Ichigo moving slower because of his lack of sleep.<p>

Just before they entered the doorway Rukia leant over to comment in his ear. "I'm not catching you if you fall over." Ichigo just grumbled something about ungrateful Lieutenants as they walked throughout the door and took their place near Yamamoto, waiting as the rest of the Captains and Lieutenants filed in and took their place.

Soon the room was full and Yamamoto brought their attention to him, his sealed cane echoing around the room as it tapped against the wooden floor. It came down with a final, resounding sound as he looked down at both rows of Captains. His ancient voice finally spoke up.

"I have called this meeting to address the critical problem currently facing the Gotei 13. That of our lack of Captains. It has been almost three years since the desertion of Ichimaru, Tousen and Aizen yet we have only filled the fifth squad's Captaincy position. The third and ninth squads still lack a Captain and the Lieutenants are having to pick up the slack." Captain Kyoraku inclined his head towards Yamamoto and gave his opinion lazily.

"That's very true, but what can we do about it? A couple of the ranks have Bankai but only one of them is someone we could recruit." The Captain-commander nodded, knowing full well that Renji and Ikkaku had both achieved Bankai, but that Ikkaku would not leave his position. The 3rd seat underestimated Yamamoto if he thought that he could hide that from him even after using it in battle.

Through his squinted eyes he briefly looked over at Renji, the other candidate. He knew how to wield his powers but Yamamoto was still unsure if he was ready for a Captain's position, then again he had given one to Ichigo.

His eyes turned back to Kyoraku and he gave his response. "I am aware of this, so I have come up with a solution. A year from now we will have a series of battle between the Captains and those shinigami with Bankai to determine who has the power to become a Captain. After this the Captains will vote and decide who will take over the positions of squads three and nine." There was silence as the Captain's considered this until Yamamoto spoke up again, causing some eyes to widen in shock. "A shinigami can have obtained bankai at any point prior to the battle in order to be eligible, including in the next year."

Unohana looked slightly surprised as she spoke up. "Are you sure that is wise, Captain-commander Yamamoto? Surely they will not be proficient enough with their power to hold such a position." Though it may have sounded harsh, Unohana was only thinking about the capacity for more loss if weak Captains took over.

"You know as well as I that Bankai is completely relative to the person, whilst some may not have mastered it and unlocked it's full potential if they can do well in a fight against another Captain with Bankai then there is no problem." Unohana nodded and stepped back into the line.

Ukitake added to Yamamoto's point. "I agree, though I see where you are coming from Captain Unohana. Whilst raw power is important if they don't have the capacity to lead and stay in control they they will not be promoted. " Yamamoto nodded his agreement and the Lieutenants looked at each other slightly nervously.

"Very well, it has been decided. You are dismissed." Everyone bowed and started to file out of the room. "...Except for you, Kurosaki."

Ichigo gulped and noticed the dismissal of his title, he should have known that Yamamoto would not forget his actions so quickly. Ukitake looked pityingly at him from over his shoulder and Shunsui gave him a slap on the back before leaving with the white-haired Captain. Rukia just gave him an 'I-told-you-so' look and smirked at him before leaving with Renji.

The orange haired Captain turned around and stood before him, looking anywhere but his fierce glare. "Uh, you wanted to see me, Captain-commander Yamamoto?" Sounding exactly like a boy asked to stay behind by his teacher.

"Yes..." Ichigo paled slightly at the dark look that was in the old man's eyes as he opened them.

* * *

><p>Half the Seireitei heard the yelp and felt a wave of heat pass over them, though only a few knew what they had just felt. Rukia shook her head slightly and she heard a chuckle behind her.<p>

"Ah, I remember when old man Yama used reprimand us like that." Shunsui's airy voice floated between her and Renji. She turned to see her previous Captain and his long-time friend smiling slightly behind her.

"Indeed, he'll have to visit the fourth squad after that. I hope you don't mind if he's slightly singed, Kuchiki." Ukitake said.

Rukia raised an eyebrow and Renji smirked. "Looks like the strawberry's finally going to get in trouble for ignoring the rules. Have fun with that Rukia. Captain Ukitake, what exactly is Yamamoto going to do to him?"

"Well, first of all he will use his shikai to..." Rukia rolled her eyes and tuned out the overly long explanation of whatever punishment Ichigo was getting. The fool deserved it anyway.

'_If you can stop thinking about your boyfriend for a moment, I have something I wish to discuss with you.'_Sode no Shirayuki's slightly irritated voice rang through her mind.

'_I wasn't thinking about him. What did you have to say, Sode no Shirayuki?'_The sword just sighed in response.

'_If that's what you believe. Anyway, this is concerning your power. Do you wish to increase it?'_Rukia was surprised by the sudden question.

She answered with slight confusion. '_Of course I do, but I have no more dances to learn and my training with Ichigo can only get me so far.'_Her blade sighed again, but responded nevertheless.

'_I have taught you everything I can at this level.'_Was her simple response.

Rukia stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening. '_Wait, do you mean...'_

'_Yes Rukia, Bankai.'_

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .Lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) ...My god I really need to write the next chapter (as in chapter 41 xD) Sad to say my mind has been preoccupied with other things, that and my amazing laziness. Ah well, I'll get it done over the weekend and then I have half term to do that and coursework.

On another note, Bleach is back! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, if you haven't read it then you really must, after all this should prove to be one epic storyline. Ichigo was supremely badass, although the cover of the issue had him in blonde for some reason 0.o Must be a colouring issue I suppose, even if the picture was amazing.

So thanks for all the reviews! As always I love reading them and replying (though I have neglected that a bit of late I will admit, though not to badly) so I hope for some more. I hope you don't mind the time skip, but nothing interesting was going to happen and I had done all I could with that arc. This one won't be as...plotty? Or at least the plot will be less serious as it is building up to the final arc which I have been thinking about since I started this story xD

P.S Later than usual because would not let me log on yesterday at all, I'm pretty sure that was the same for everyone so I couldn't do anything about it.


	38. The long road

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Whilst Rukia was reveling in the idea that she might be able to achieve bankai, Ichigo was busy being...taught a lesson by Yamamoto. Said lesson was currently being taught by multiple large burns and ears that were almost deaf from the old man's shouting. The young Captain was currently on his hands and knees, smoking, before the Captain-commander (who looked just as composed as ever).

"I take it that you understand my point now, Captain Kurosaki." Ichigo breathed raggedly and nodded.

"Yeah, I do...sir. But why did it take you five months to decide to do that!" Ichigo almost shouted, it had been torture whenever he had passed Yamamoto and the old man had glared at him.

Yamamoto surprised him by chuckling as he looked down at him. "As I am sure you noticed, the wait can be just as bad as the punishment in cases such as these." Ichigo scowled.

"You've got that right...I'll have to use that on my squad some time." Yamamoto nodded approvingly.

"Indeed. You have a natural talent for inspiring confidence in people, it is part of what made me decide to appoint you as a Captain."

Ichigo snorted slightly and winced in pain. "I thought it was just raw power." Yamamoto shook his head and sighed.

"No. A fool would put someone who simply had power in charge, I assure you I am no fool. To be a Captain you must be able to lead people, to keep your head cool in times of crisis and teach above all else. You will inspire the next generation. That is a Captain's duty." Ichigo nodded, slightly surprised at where the conversation had gone. But at least he wasn't being burned alive.

A thought entered his head and he questioned Yamamoto. "Eh, what about Kenpachi?" Yamamoto frowned slightly before responding.

"The eleventh squad works differently than others. He inspires confidence through his own great power, and teaches them in his own way. If he was not suitable to be a Captain, then he would not be a Captain, I would have put a stop to it. Whilst he took the position in a way that complies with the rules, it does not stop me from dismissing him if I felt he was not suitable." Ichigo nodded, then brought up another questionable Captain.

"And Mayuri?" The old man gritted his teeth slightly this time.

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a necessary evil for the advancement of our technology." Ichigo had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to it than that, but he kept his mouth shut.

Instead he brought up the last nagging question on his mind. "Why they hell are you telling me this, old man?"

Yamamoto walked past him, his answer trailing behind him as he left. "Because it is something you should know, Captain Kurosaki. The Captain-commander does not choose his Captain's lightly." And with that he was gone, leaving Ichigo alone in the meeting room.

"Am I supposed to feel special now." Ichigo mumbled, but he couldn't help but feel slightly uplifted by his words. Then he looked down at his current state and scowled/

'_Now what am I going to do about this, getting to fourth squad is going to be a pain.'_His response came in the form of a very loud cry.

"ICHIGO!" He strained his head over his shoulder to see and adult Nel running down the corridor towards him and gave her a pained smile.

"Yo, Nel. Hows it going?" Their relationship had shifted over the past months as his and Rukia's had. She had become more and more like a true daughter to him, considering she lived in the same building. She may not treat him like a father as such, but the connection was still there as it had grown with her and Rukia.

She had also learned to control her forms and reiatsu completely now, enabling her to switch between child and adult at will. Because of this she liked to switch back to her child form whenever she was playing with Yachiru or wanted some attention from Ichigo. And in that form it was very hard to resist her cuteness, sometimes he hated the fact that all the women he was close to were cute if they wanted to be.

She stopped next to him and frowned at his condition. "I felt you being hurt and I wanted to make sure you were okay, you know I don't like it when you hurt Ichigo." Ichigo chuckled weakly, knowing that if Rukia was still here she would have scolded him for getting hurt in the first place. They both worried about him too much, even if they showed it in different ways.

"I'm fine Nel, just a little...singed. Can you help me down to the fourth? We'll go and find Rukia after that." Nel nodded, but instead of letting him lean on her like he had expected, she picked him up and started running to the fourth squad barracks.

Bridal style.

"Nel, what the hell are you doing?" He yelped, his face burning with embarrassment.

She looked down at him, confused, but didn't stop moving. "I'm doing what you said, this is the quickest way for me to make you better." Ichigo just wanted to escape her arms, and the looks he was getting from the shinigami they passed.

"Can't you at least use shunpo or something? If Rukia ever finds out about this she'll have a field day." Nel raised her eyebrows.

"She would spend a day in a field? And no I'm not going faster, sonido would hurt you more than this." Ichigo groaned at her response and was about to say the pain wasn't that bad when she spoke up again, her voice slightly dangerous. "Of course, if you really want me to stop, I'll have to get rid of your wounds by licking-"

"Nope! Just keep going." Ichigo interrupted in a strangled voice. It wasn't the first time Nel had suggested something like that, and what was worse was that after the first few times Rukia had gotten used to it and actively used the time to laugh at him.

When Ichigo had asked why she was so comfortable Rukia had just shrugged and said: "_I've already spoken to her about it. She knows her boundaries, but that won't stop her from suggesting stuff like that. There's no chance of you saying yes and I get to see you embarrassed, it's a win-win __situation."_Ichigo still wasn't sure what exactly they had spoken about, but it was clear no-one was going to tell him.

Finally they arrived at the fourth squad barracks...just in time to see Renji and Ikkaku leaving it. Nel stopped and so did they, both of their eyes landing on her, then to Ichigo, then the situation as a whole.

They broke out in simultaneous laughter and Ichigo's face burned in embarrassment, though he didn't try to get out because it would just make him look worse when he failed. Ikkaku spoke first, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Oh man, Renji told me the old man beat you bad, but you had to get your daughter to carry you about?" Ichigo scowled and wished that he could punch him right in his bald head.

"Shut it, Ikkaku. I'd like to see you try and stop her. And Renji, if you say a word I will go bankai on you so fast your tattoo's will come off." Renji just snickered and pointed out something Ichigo had forgotten.

"Whatever Ichigo, you haven't gone into bankai since you came back from Hueco Mundo. I'm betting you can't even do it anymore, which means I'm stronger than _you_for once." Ichigo scowled and gave him the finger.

"Dream on. I've been helping Rukia and my squad train so I haven't needed to, but if you want to go then I'll show you whose better right after I escap- I mean, after Nel lets me go." Nel scowled down at him, a rare occurrence '_Did she pick that up from me?'_And took that as her cue to go into the barracks.

Ichigo heard their laughter behind him as he was carried into the barracks by a half irritated, half worried Nel. Luckily it didn't take long to find Unohana, who looked at him with slight surprise.

"Ah, Captain Kurosaki, judging by your...cooked appearance you have found yourself on the wrong side of the Captain-commander?" Ichigo snorted despite his position and crossed his arms.

"Something like that." He mumbled and Unohana couldn't help but notice how childish he looked, despite the fact _he_was Nel's adopted father. She shook her head and motioned for Nel to follow her.

"This won't take long, you've had much worse. Now Nel, about the next SWA meeting..." Ichigo tuned them out as Nel and Unohana started talking about their association. Nel had joined soon after she had returned and it had made for some boring discussions (from his point of view) between her and Rukia.

He sighed as he continued to be carried through the barracks.

* * *

><p>Rukia had left Renji and the other two Captain's just after her sword had asked her for a moment of her time. '<em>Bankai.'<em>Yes, that was it. Sode no Shirayuki was prepared to start her bankai training, something Rukia had always thought she was unlikely to receive. Her friends had always told her she was powerful, but then she had to compare herself to them: Ichigo with as much power as he liked, Renji who had achieved bankai, her brother and Ukitake.

'_Stop thinking so negatively, that won't help you achieve bankai. In fact that is why it has taken so __long, that and your lack of combat experience.'_Rukia looked around distractedly, her blade had told her to go somewhere so she had but she had no idea where she was. Her took a moment to adjust to the light as she found herself in a cavernous space.

"Where am I?" She voiced her question since no one was around to question her.

'_You are in a cave which is just outside of the Seireitei. It has been used by numerous shinigami to train in solitude for years. Now it is our turn, do you want to achieve bankai here?"_Rukia started first of all and glared down at her sword.

"You led me out of the Seireitei and I didn't even notice?" Her sword just chuckled in response.

'_You should have been more perceptive. I'm sure you can talk to me and watch where you are going at the same time, you just didn't try to. Now I will ask again. Do you wish to obtain bankai here?"_Rukia looked around the large cave once more before responding.

"Yes, teach me bankai." She felt her swords satisfaction at her answer and listened diligently to her reply.

It sounded louder than before somehow. '_Excellent, then we shall begin after I give you one last warning. This training will be dangerous and extensive, it could take anywhere from a month to a year. You are not Ichigo Kurosaki and our bankai is far more complex than his anyway, do you understand.'_Rukia tried not to smirk at the slightly self-righteous tone her Zanpakuto had adopted, clearly the idea of bankai in three days wasn't appealing to her.

Rukia smiled as she drew her blade from its sheath. "Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way, Sode no Shirayuki." Again, approval radiated from her blade and she gave her first instruction.

'_Very well, then we shall start by materialisation, this will be essential but I have no worries about you mastering it with ease. Simply remember how it feels to enter you inner world, and reverse that, try pulling it out.'_Rukia frowned at the less than substantial explanation and closed her eyes, trying to force her inner world out.

She heard her sword sigh and is spoke up again. '_Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I did not mean to imply that you should attempt to rip it out, it is simply a matter of calling to me and letting me have passage through your power. That is materialisation.'_Rukia nodded at the clearer description and tried it again,closing her eyes in an attempting to create a link between herself and Sode no Shirayuki.

It started with a pulse of reiatsu, but soon it grew into a strong connection of strength. She felt a strange, twinging sensation and opened her eyes. "Well done, Rukia."

"Sode no Shirayuki..." Rukia breathed out, amazed that her blade was standing before her. She seemed to glow ethereally in the darkness, which only accentuated her natural beauty and elegance. Her long, white Kimono shifted slightly as if there was a breeze running through the cave and Sode no Shirayuki inclined her head towards Rukia.

"You have materialised me, however this is merely the start of your training. I doubt you will be able to keep me in this form for very long at first." As she said that Rukia noticed the strain that keeping her materialised was having on her reiatsu. It was like she was constantly firing off Kido spells, ones in the mid-thirties at that.

She let out a breath and tried to adjust to the strain before responding. "It doesn't matter, I can't expect any more on my first attempt. It just means we will have to get started quickly!" Her blade nodded in agreement but made no move to start.

"Indeed, however this time we will only wait to see how long you can maintain my materialised form. I estimate it to be around twenty minutes or less." Rukia frowned at the low number.

"But how am I going to get my training done if I can only keep you materialised for that amount of time before you disappear." Sode no Shirayuki just smiled at her softly.

Rukia raised an eyebrow at the respond and her blade spoke again. "I enjoy your enthusiasm Rukia, but much of bankai training is learning to control the vast increase in power that comes with it." Before Rukia could even finish _thinking_the point that Ichigo hadn't had that problem, her blade continued with a sad smile.

"You may be thinking about your partner, Ichigo. He is an exceptional case to be sure, but when he first used bankai against your brother...it nearly killed him. His body was being crushed by the weight of his own spiritual pressure and he was only saved by the intervention of his hollow." Rukia's retort died on her lips and she frowned, Ichigo's moves when he invaded the Soul society became more and more reckless as she learned more about them.

"If this is what I must do to achieve bankai, then I will try my hardest! How long will it take after you fade to bring you out again?" Sode no Shirayuki seemed to think about if for a moment before she responded.

"It shouldn't take that long, however you will be spending that time in meditation with me. After all, bankai is not merely an increase in power. Everyone needs a reason to achieve bankai, no matter their power, I wonder what yours will be." Rukia frowned at the tone her sword took on at the end.

"You already know, don't you?"

The woman clad in white gave an airy laugh and fixed Rukia with a curious gaze. "But of course." That was all she said on the subject and Rukia glared at her sword for a bit longer as the time ticked down.

A couple of minutes of silence later, Sode no Shirayuki spoke up in a colder tone. "Since we are not actually fighting this time, you should use it to get used to the strain on your body _whilst_fighting. I suggest that you start of by practising Kido." Rukia nodded obediently and raised her hands at one of the stalagmites and channeled her depleted reiatsu into her hands.

"Hado, no. 31: Shakkaho..." The explosion of the kido spell echoed around the chamber as Rukia continued her training.

* * *

><p>Ichigo reached for his haori as he stood from his bed, his healing complete. However, he scowled when he looked down and found that it was missing. Grumbling about how Yamamoto would murder him this time if he went back to tell him that he had lost his haori, Ichigo started looking around the room for it.<p>

"Hey, Nel have you seen my haori?" Ichigo called out, sticking his head out of the door and almost whacking his head against it at what he saw.

"Yeah, it's right here Ichigo!" Nel had taken the liberty of putting his haori on and was currently surrounded by a number of men from the fourth squad, who were practically drooling over the 'new Captain'.

Ichigo scowled as he looked over them, his protective instinct kicking in. "Oi, don't you have people to heal? Stop drooling over my _daughter_." Ichigo didn't often call her that, but it worked to get the point across and they all jumped and scuttled away, aside from the few brave...stupid ones.

One of them stepped forward. "Uh, s-sir I'm sure she can do what she wants..." He trailed off under Ichigo's terrifying glare.

"I suggest you follow your friends. Nel give me my haori back." Nel just pouted and didn't take it off. A few of the remaining men sighed at the thought that she wasn't really a Captain, so wasn't out of their league.

One look at Ichigo told them otherwise.

Finally the last of them disappeared and the makeshift family left the barracks, searching for their final member...Nel still wearing Ichigo's haori. "Nel, just give it back!" The girl just shook her head absently and looked about.

"Nope, I like feeling like a Captain, it's warm as well. So stop moaning and help me find Rukia." Ichigo scowled and searched for her presence. He was sure that if she could get away with wearing his haori Rukia would have already done it, luckily it was far too long for her. Nel didn't have that problem, and it wouldn't matter to her if she did so Ichigo just sighed and continued searching for Rukia.

It didn't take long for him to pinpoint her reiatsu, but he was surprised to find that it was outside the Seireitei. It flickered for a moment before returning inside the Seireitei and started moving in his direction. He frowned slightly that she felt weaker than normal and that she was moving slower, but he would as her when she got here.

Nel finally caught up with him as she got a lock on Rukia's reiatsu and grabbed Ichigo's arm. "I've got it, c'mon." Suddenly Ichigo was being ripped through the air at high speed as Nel used sonido.

It didn't take long for the three of them to meet, Ichigo landing and extracting his arm from Nel's vice-like hold. Rukia looked at the two of them before snickering at the scene.

"It looks like you've been replaced, Ichigo." Ichigo scowled and glared at her.

"Just because she _stole_my haori, it doesn't mean I'm not a Captain. Besides, at least she can wear it without looking like a child!" Rukia glared back at him.

"Real original, insulting my height." Ichigo just rolled his eyes, knowing the argument was as good as over.

He looked at her disheveled state and his brow furrowed. "What have you been doing? You look like you've been fighting, or maybe it's because of your short legs-" A punch in the gut cut him off and he groaned.

"Looks like they're not that short." Casually ignoring his question, she looked to the side of his hunched over form and smiled at Nel as if nothing had happened. "Hey Nel, how are you? Sorry I haven't seen you all day, I've been busy."

Nel smiled brightly back at her and pulled her into a sudden hug. "Don't worry, I've had fun! I went over to your house and had some tea with Hisana." Rukia smiled and tried to pull out of Nel's deadly hugs, well they were deadly for Ichigo at least, most other people got off with light asphyxiation.

Nel and Hisana, that was a friendship that Rukia would never have envisioned, but because Nel didn't have many people who would talk to her because of her hollow status, she had found herself spending time with Rukia's sister. They were both adverse to fighting and both were very kind kind, though showed it in different ways, so it was nice to see that they had found company in each other.

She remembered her brother's response with a smirk. _"It's nice that Hisana has found someone to connect with, but I can't say I am pleased that it is yet another one of Kurosaki's...admirers."_Rukia knew that her brother got irritated when Nel started gushing about Ichigo but couldn't do anything about it because of Hisana.

She finally extracted herself from Nel, and just in time as Ikkaku and Renji appeared before them seconds later. "Yo, Ichigo. Times u-up..." Renji trailed off as he noticed that 'Ichigo' (who he had assumed to be the person in a haori from long distance) actually had bright green hair. He and Ikkaku leaned slightly to the right and saw that Ichigo was standing behind her, scowling, as Rukia smirked at him.

The two broke out in raucous laughter at his expense for the second time that day.

They finally ended up with smirks on their face despite Ichigo's scowl and Renji pointed at Nel. "Wow Ichigo, not only did she carry you but she's replaced you as Captain, chip of the old block eh?" Rukia's ears perked up and her smirk grew into a grin as she looked at Ichigo slyly.

"Carrying you?" Ichigo's face grew red with anger and embarrassment as Rukia snickered with Renji.

"Oh yeah Rukia, she was even carrying him bridal style!" She broke out into full blown laughter and Ichigo flash stepped past a confused Nel (who didn't see the problem) and grabbed Renji's shihakusho.

"Bastard, you are so dead. Time to go to my barracks I think." Renji just smirked and nodded. The two flash stepping towards the fifth squad barracks and the large training ground they had there. The remaining three followed soon after and landed just as Ichigo drew Zangetsu from his sheath and slashed it across the air.

"Cast off your fear, Zangetsu!" The blade exploded with reiatsu and changed into its shikai state, Ichigo's own reiatsu becoming thick in the air.

Renji smirked again and drew his blade. "Howl, Zabimaru!" The large, segmented blade appeared and the two stood looking at each other for a moment.

"Go, Ichigo!" Nel shouted from the side lines, and the fight began.

Ichigo flash stepped above Renji, falling down with his blade held above his head. Renji dodged before he crashed into the ground and extended Zabimaru towards him. The young Captain couldn't bring Zangetsu up fast enough so ducked the razor edged blade, sliding to the side and charging at Renji.

The Lieutenant redirected his blade and hit Ichigo from the side, which Ichigo blocked with the side of his blade held up with his left arm. When he got close enough he swung at Renji, making him retract his blade to block the heavy strike.

"Nice try." Renji taunted as twisted his blade around, causing Ichigo to stumble slightly from the shift in weight.

"I'm just getting started." Ichigo responded, bringing the weight of his blade around to slam into Renji's, knocking the Lieutenant back.

Renji grinned and held out his hand, trying to catch Ichigo by surprise. "Hado no. 31. Shakkaho!" The red ball of fire exploded from his hand and he silently thanked Momo for the separate Kido training she had given him.

Ichigo responded with an equally surprising technique for Renji, holding out his hand. "Sho." The blast of force was strong enough to force Renji to rise his reiatsu to stop himself from flying back, giving him enough time to look up and see his own kido fly backwards and hit him in the chest.

Rukia grinned at Ichigo's use of Kido. At first she was surprised that Renji had managed to successfully use one, then she had remembered Momo telling her about their lessons. She had continued to help Ichigo with Kido and whilst he still had a problem with putting too much power into his spells, he could at least use a few of them now. And he had just demonstrated his personal favourite, because of his vast well of energy Ichigo's Hado no. 1 was significantly more powerful than anything she had seen before.

When she asked Ichigo why he like it he had just said :_"It's useful and powerful, I don't have to use it to hurt someone if I don't want to."_Somehow it suited him that his favourite Hado was the only non-lethal one other than no. 58.

Renji scowled when the smoke dissipated and Ichigo smirked at him. "I see you've gotten better at Kido." The Lieutenant dusted himself off slightly.

"I see you have too, though it looks like you can only do the simplest one." Ichigo's smirk grew as he raised his hand again and Renji brought up his sword to defend himself.

"True, I've still got problems with the truly destructive ones...then again I don't need to use them." Renji raised his eyebrows and frowned.

"And why's that, strawberry?" Ichigo just chuckled and a red ball grew at the tips of his fingers.

"Cero." Renji cursed as a cero the size of Ichigo exploded from his fingers. He only had one option, and he took it, raising his reiatsu as the energy raced towards him.

"Bankai!" smoke billowed up from the floor and Ichigo saw his cero hit the bone structure of Renji's bankai.

Renji frowned at the careless way Ichigo had used such a powerful, hollow technique. "Pay attention Ichigo, we are still in your barracks and if I had moved out of the way it could have hit them." Ichigo didn't loose his smirk as he shook his head.

"Actually the barracks are mostly empty today, since the men have the day off. The bit behind you is especially empty but even if you had dodged it, I would have moved to take the hit. It wasn't a powerful cero anyway." Renji had to force himself not to appear shocked. '_Just what is powerful to him now?'_

He finally smirked and raised his snake-like bankai at pointed it at Ichigo. "C'mon then, no more warming up. Let's see this new bankai."

Ichigo responded by holding his sword out before him and looking Renji in the eyes as he said the words everyone had been waiting for.

"Bankai."

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) A day later than usual, my fault really I should have sent it to my beta on Wednesday rather than Thursday as I was planning :) Well I hope you liked it, I actually really enjoyed writing this one xD and don't worry I have put a lot of thought into Rukia's bankai, it won't be too over powered , nor will it be too similar to Hitsugaya's.

As for Bleach, I expect this arc (even if it is the last) to go on for 8-10 years based on my information, so there's no reason to freak out about it :) Either way it will be a long one, it's been in planning for five years and has to include a shead load of stuff! Hope yah enjoyed the chapter, thanks for previous reviews and any new ones in advance until I can reply! :)


	39. Divergence

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

The force of Ichigo's reiatsu crashed down like an ocean on Rukia and she felt herself dropping to her knees. Beside her, Nel and Ikkaku mimicked her, visible strain already showing on all of them as they started sweating to remain off the floor. The dust that had billowed up from Ichigo's release started to dissipate and Renji became visible, his jaw clenched as he fought against Ichigo's oppressive reiatsu.

Finally the dust settled completely and Ichigo was visible to the few around him. Rukia's eyes grew wide as she took in his new bankai, it looked far more...vicious than before.

His normal black katana had extended and now curved upwards at the end, spiking into multiple curved tips before curving back into a straight blade. The hilt had also changed, the four pronged guard now curving and spiking as opposed to it's previous straight form. The chain from the hilt of his bankai had extended and seemed to disappear back up into Ichigo's modified shihakusho sleeve rather than breaking off as it had before.

Rukia finally dragged her eyes away from his blade and looked over his (largely unchanged) coat, noticing that the only thing of note was his chest, which was now open with a white under shirt beneath it. The coat was held closed by a sequence of X's that seemed to have formed out of his coat.

"I...chigo.." Rukia ground out, trying to push up against his reiatsu.

Ichigo blinked and looked over to Rukia, Nel and Ikkaku. He noticed their predicament and tried to pull his power back, succeeding in replacing the oppressive force with a noticeable thickening of the air. But that was better than them being crushed.

Rukia pushed herself up, her face red from irritation. "You fool! Can't you control your reiatsu when you go into bankai?" Ichigo scowled and pointed his blade at her as if it were a finger.

"Hey, you all wanted to see my bankai! Don't complain if I haven't had time to-" Ichigo stopped and another wave his his reiatsu blasted across the Seireitei, almost forcing them to their knees again before it vanished.

Rukia growled and glared at Ichigo. "For god sake, Ichigo...Ichigo" Her tone changed when she saw him standing there, his body trembling and his face frozen in shock.

"What is it-" This time he cut her off as his reiatsu once again exploded around him, flickering for a moment before vanishing.

Rukia widened her eyes in shock as she tried to feel him. '_It hasn't just vanished, I can't even feel his existence. Didn't this happen before when...'_

"Ichigo!" Her tone was panicked now, and she started to move towards him, only to have to dodge to the side as Renji slid next to her, the force of Ichigo's unstable reiatsu forcing him away.

Renji glanced over to her. "Rukia, what the hell is going on?" Rukia looked back at him with worry clear in her eyes.

"It's just like before. Both Rangiku and Urahara told me that after Ichigo returned from his training in the Dangai precipice world, his reiatsu grew so high that they couldn't sense it. If they could it would have crushed them...but something's wrong." Nel appeared next to Rukia, her eyes wide and scared.

"Rukia, we've got to help him!" Rukia didn't move, none of them could get close to him without risking being crushed.

She looked sadly at Nel. "We can't. If he can't stabilise his power..." She let the point hang and it was met with wide, horrified eyes. Rukia looked at Ichigo and felt her heart clench in pain and his struggle.

'_You have to be strong Ichigo, be the man you are in my heart!'_

Ichigo made them all jump as he roared in pain and looked at them, his eyes wild. Rukia's eyes grew wider as his hair started to change, black seeping into the orange locks and blotting out their natural shine. His left eye blazed blue for a moment and Rukia flinched slightly at how much he resembled Kaien in that one moment. She had left that guilt behind but Ichigo's similarity to him in that instance shook her.

Then it was gone as his hair started to flatten and seemed to start growing slightly longer, his eyes slowly being shadowed by his black locks.

Ichigo could barely recognise his surroundings, pain seared through his mind. Pain from his very soul, it felt like it was shaking apart. A voice sliced through the chaos like a knife, but it sounded panicked and urgent at the same time.

'_Ichigo, Ichigo! You have to stop, stop this now!'_He tried to register the plea but his mind was experiencing an onslaught by yet another wave of pain and he reeled in agony.

Another voice shouted at him, angry and scared. "_**Stop this shit King! Let go of it or we'll be screwed."**_Recognition of the two voices finally sparked and his, tired and agonized mind responded quietly.

'_Zangetsu...Shirosaki...what, what is this?'_He heard a scream of frustration and pain from Tensa Zangetsu and the younger man's voice suddenly seemed all the closer.

Tensa Zangetsu was more emotive than his older counterpart, his voice thick with fear and pain. '_Ichigo your soul is trying to reclaim the power it remembers! It's trying to merge us again, if that happens then we will all die! Something new will be born because this would not be a temporary union, our souls would merge forever. Now let go of my power!'_Ichigo heard Zangetsu's scream of frustration. He knew why as well, if Ichigo didn't do something then he would die and Zangetsu wanted to protect him above all else.

His mind was still searing and he felt his consciousness start to slip. '_How?'_Zangetsu growled in anger and hissed his response.

'_I told you, idiot. Let go of my power, release me now!"_Ichigo heard him and struggled to comply with his answer, his mind drifting off to escape the pain.

A flash of inspiration came seconds before he fell and he finally surged against the pain.

Rukia watched with horror as Ichigo's reiatsu became more erratic and deadly, the marble of the training ground around him now crushed into sand from the repeated pummelling of his power. She barely noticed that they had been joined by the three elder Captains, who were watching the scene with sad expressions.

Finally Rukia and Nel felt Ichigo's old reiatsu flare suddenly and they looked and the black haired boy, watching as he raised his hands to his head and let out another loud roar of pain. Everyone's eyes were locked on him as something remarkable started to happen before them.

Ichigo started to split, two other forms appeared around him like blurred images and grew sharper and sharper until they stood either side of him, their forms as defined as Ichigo's. That was when his reiatsu finally appeared to stabilize, before starting to drop, or rather to plummet.

Back in shikai, Ichigo swayed and stabbed his blade into the ground to stop himself from falling over. He breathed heavily and looked up, feeling relieved as he saw that his ditch effort had worked.

Tensa Zangetsu and his hollow stood on either side of him, both looking worse for wear and Zangetsu especially breathing as heavily as Ichigo was. He scowled slightly as he noticed that his hollow was out, and looking around with a bemused expression.

"Why are you out, I only meant to force Zangetsu to materialise." Shirosaki just shrugged and grinned at him.

"Looks like you couldn't even control that, ya really are pathetic King-" He stopped as Ichigo was suddenly knocked out of his conversation by a flying kick from Rukia.

Before he could hit the ground Nel had attempted to finish off the job by capturing him on one of her bear-hugs she reserved especially for him. "Ichigo, are you okay? Please be okay, that was so frightening!"

Rukia just glared at him, despite the worry clear in her eyes. "This is what happens when you can't control your power you idiot! Who knows what damaged you could have caused, you could have-" Ichigo cut her off by pulling her into Nel's hug.

"But I didn't midget, so stop worrying." Despite her anger with him she fell into the family hug, Ichigo holding her as Nel squeezed both of them. Moments later Nel transformed with a loud pop and scrawled up to get in between the two of them.

Rukia just smirked lovingly down at her and pushed Ichigo back slightly in favour of holding Nel.

"She's cuter than you Ichigo." Was all she offered by way of an explanation, and Nel giggled.

Shirosaki resisted the urge to gag at the family scene and glanced over to Ukitake, Kyoraku and Unohana who were looking at him warily.

He grinned and sonido'd over to them, ignoring how their hands hovered over their weapons as he approached. "Yo, you guys are strong right?"

Ukitake frowned at the white clone of Ichigo. "We are the most senior Captains in the Gotei 13 aside from the Captain-commander. However, more importantly who are you?" Shirosaki's grin didn't falter as he eyed up the Captains.

"Eh, well I named myself Shirosaki to piss the King off, but I suppose that's a bit formal for my taste. Let's go with Hichigo, that should still irritate him." The Captian's didn't relax and Unohana spoke up in a deceptively calm tone.

"Very well, Hichigo Shirosaki. What exactly are you and who is your 'king'?" She already had a good idea but it would be better to hear it out of the horse's mouth, so to speak.

The hollow just jerked his thumb over his shoulder to Ichigo, who was having another spat with Rukia. "That's the King, and I'm pretty sure you know who I am. Yah Captain's ain't stupid, I'm his hollow who just so happens to have been materialised with tall, dark and moody over there." Again, this didn't placate the Captain's.

After all, they now had an extremely powerful and bloodthirsty hollow free in the Seireitei. Kyoraku tried to find some peace, sensing that things could quickly escalate if the hollow had his way. "So Mr. Hollow, will you be staying with us long?"

Hichigo just shrugged. "I dunno, depends on if the King can find a way to use his bankai without merging our souls into one. Until then..." before the hollow could start any chaos, Tensa Zangetsu appeared next to him, his features looking more healthy and less panicked than when he had materialised.

"Stop trying to cause trouble." He said with a slight sigh, before inclining his head towards the three Captains. "I apologise for his behaviour, but we will have to remain out until the reiatsu that was created when we started to merge burns out from Ichigo's system. If we return whilst it remains then what happened before will simply repeat itself." He saw the troubled looks of the Captains and smirked slightly.

"It won't be to long, don't worry. Maybe ten minutes or so then we can return and figure out how to stop this from happening again when Ichigo next goes into bankai." Unohana looked slightly surprised and glanced over to Ichigo.

"Ah, so he does still have his bankai?" Zangetsu looked affronted and responded with an irritated tone.

"Of course he does, one does not forget bankai. The problem is that he went to the step beyond that and this is what he now has to overcome as a result." Unohana looked slightly surprised at the tone he had taken and bowed her head slightly in apology.

Shirosaki snickered and nudged Zangetsu with his shoulder. "Now you've done it. Sorry Lady, but you don't want to insult Ichigo in front of Zangetsu if your not that little girl or the Queen. He gets awfully touchy." Tensa Zangetsu glared back at the hollow.

Kyoraku lifted his hat slightly and leant closer to Zangetsu. "But I heard that you have no problem insulting him if you want to, I also thought that Ichigo said you were older." The hollow snickered again and Zangetsu frowned.

"I give him what he needs, but I will not allow him to be thought of as less powerful than he is, especially by someone who has no experience with the matter in hand." He glared at Unohana again, who had to hide a small smile. She found it endearing that Ichigo's Zanpakuto was so defensive of him, not all shinigami got along with their Zanpakuto after all.

"And as for my age, this is what I am like in my bankai form. I am older in shikai and before the blade has been released." He said the last part in a grumble and Shirosaki's smirk grew wider. He knew that Zangetsu still disliked being sealed and if he was really feeling irritable then he would make it difficult for Ichigo to seal him when the time came.

Shirosaki then rolled his eyes and tilted his head towards Zangetsu. "Yea, and he's much moodier as an old guy. At least in this form he is a bit of fun, when he's an old guy he just stands on his pigeon pole and looks dramatic." Tensa Zangetsu's fingers twitched and he was tempted to materialise his own blade to take a swing at the obnoxious hollow.

Ukitake blinked in surprise and looked at the young man. "Zanpakuto spirits change in appearance when they go into bankai?" Zangetsu nodded and glared at the three Captains.

"Of course they do, I would have thought that you would know that. Being as experienced as you are, in fact I would hope you would at least visit your own Zanpakuto once in a while." The Captains looked away from the accusing glare. It was true that after a shinigami obtained bankai they felt less of an inclination to actually visit their inner world, and why would they do so in bankai?

Kyoraku shrugged and looked back at him. "I have the odd chat with them and I have been to visit before, but never whilst I was in bankai. In fact I can't remember the last time I was even in bankai."

That answer didn't seem to appease the disgruntled spirit and he responded irritably. "I'm sure that's good for you as your powers remain a secret, but perhaps you should ask them. I know that personally, it is a true joy to be used to my full potential. Think about what it might be like for them to be sitting around, using only a fraction of their power to-" Before Zangetsu could finish his rant, smoky black reiatsu flared around him and his young form morphed into his older one.

He looked slightly disorientated for a moment before he bowed slightly to the Captains. "I apologise for my...exuberance. You have had far more experience with your own spirits than I." Unohana smiled and Ukitake followed suit with a shake of his head.

"Not at all, it's rare if not nearly unheard of for something like this to happen. So we should gather as much information as we can from it, right?" The older Zangetsu nodded and looked down at his form for a moment.

"The excess reiatsu has nearly diminished, we will be leaving soon." The hollow's grin fell slightly at that and he looked at the Captain's with disappointment.

"That's a shame isn't it, no time for us to play! Don't worry though, now I know that he can materialise me, I'll come visit ya when I've pissed the King off enough.' Ukitake gave a half-smile, half grimace and Shunsui just chuckled.

Unohana gave her customary smile. "I will make sure to inform Captain Zaraki of your presence when you are materialised, though I doubt it will be any time soon." The hollow wanted to retort, but he knew that that was true. He would only ever be materialised by his king when Ichigo could watch him and make sure he wasn't fucking around.

More accurately, he would never be materialised in the Soul society if Ichigo could help it.

An awkward silence fell on them for a few minutes before the pair finally started dissolving back into reishi and Ichigo felt their presence once more. He smiled at the comfortable feeling, Rukia noticed and gave her own smile. He was back to normal now, or as normal as he could be.

Kyoraku tipped his hat towards Ichigo. "That was rather strange, Ichigo, but it seems you are all okay now. Do you think you have it under control now?" He said it in a light hearted tone, but the message was clear beneath it.

'_Do you have what it takes to continue being a Captain?'_

Ichigo frowned and turned the question to the two spirits inside him. Zangetsu responded slowly, his voice heavy with meaning. '_You will have to train with your bankai before you can fully use its power again. As for the true peak of your power...I cannot say if you will be able to ascend to that height again without again using the final getsuga tenshou, which I will not allow you to do.'_Ichigo acknowledged his warning with a mental nod. If he could help it he was clearly going to avoid using it, It seemed Zangetsu had the same idea.

'_**Yeah we need to figure out how to use that King. I want that power, especially when we get to Hueco Mundo, now that you can materialise me that power will only let me last longer!'**_Ichigo rolled his eyes, but an idea came to him because of his hollows...exuberance.

He finally looked back at Kyoraku and asked a question to the surprise of all present. "Before I answer, do Captains get time off?" The elder Captain seemed to consider it for a moment before he answered.

"Sure they do, it builds up to an extent over our working time. You can't take too much off at one time but you've done a good job with your squad so I don't see why not. Any reason you ask?" Ichigo grimaced and glanced at Rukia before responding.

"There is only one place I'll be able to stabilise my power safely. I have to go back to Hueco Mundo, if I stay here I'll only be putting everyone in danger." Of course it wasn't long after the news was absorbed by everyone that Rukia let him know her opinion.

Loudly.

"Idiot, you don't have to do this on your own like you did last time. I'm sure the Captain-commander will be able to-" Before she could continue her supporting speech, Unohana interrupted her.

The older Captain was touched by her concern, but had to stop her from hoping for the impossible. "I'm sorry Lieutenant Kuchiki, but this is...not a problem the Gotei 13 is fit to deal with. It is the responsibility of each Captain to control his own power. If Captain Kurosaki cannot regain his control, then his power will be sealed." Rukia deflated slightly but looked like she wanted to argue with her senior.

"Heh, well that will be the least of my worries if I can't control my power." Ichigo joked, smirking slightly and looking down at Rukia. "What's with that face, Rukia. It looks like you expect me to stay there forever, I won't be gone long."

Rukia snorted and glared, worry shining in her eyes. "I expect not, I was...I-" She started blushing suddenly and grabbed his arm, yanking him away from the others who were looking at them curiously.

They didn't get far before Rukia let go of him and looked away. "Rukia, what-"

"We've taken to long to do anything in our relationship, when you come back I-I want to try something new." Rukia spoke quickly, looking up at him defiantly.

Ichigo blinked in surprise before he blushed and smirked at her. "I thought the Kuchiki family was supposed to be model of restraint." Rukia scowled back at him and crossed her arms.

"I'm only doing this because you clearly can't control yourself." Ichigo turned slightly red as she brought up a previous event.

Ichigo's hands had gotten a little explorative the last time they had gotten some time alone. After all, as much restraint as he had, Rukia had been with him for around five months and they got precious little time, thanks to Byakuya, to...do what other couples do. The young Captain looked away and Rukia knew she had won the argument, so claimed her prize.

She pulled Ichigo down for a kiss and within seconds they were engaged in a passionate one, his hands trailing up her back and hers pulling him closer to her, as if she wanted their bodies to merge. However, it didn't last long as Rukia pulled away, her breath slightly deeper than before.

"So don't be long, because I'll be waiting." Ichigo had to force himself not to gulp at her seductive tone, thoughts of what she could mean flashing in his mind.

He nodded but before he could respond Rukia started to walk back to the group of shinigami waiting for them. Ichigo caught up to her as they arrived back at the cracked training ground of the fifth squad's barracks. He sighed as he noticed the damage that had been caused because of his lack of control.

"Ah, I'll have to get the squad to fix this place up." Rukia rolled her eyes and Unohana reprimanded him gently.

"You really should be more careful next time, Captain Kurosaki." Ichigo gave a nervous chuckle but was secretly happy that she had enough faith in him to believe that there was going to be a next time.

Renji slapped him on the back, causing Ichigo to glare at him in response. "So, d'ya know how long you're going to be away?" Ichigo frowned and considered it for a moment.

"Well...it took me two and a half days to obtain bankai, but three months to use the final getsuga tenshou. Uh, I'll be gone a week. That won't be a problem will it?" He directed his question to the elder Captains and Ukitake shook his head happily.

"No, in fact that's nothing like what I feared. Are you sure you can do it in a week?" Ichigo smirked back at him.

"I don't know if I'm going to have much of a choice. It's this or have my soul eat itself next time I go into bankai, I suppose I'd better leave later today." Some of the faces around him showed shock, but Rukia's was just determined as she looked up at him.

She had expected this, that was why she had tried to give him more of an incentive to return as soon as he could. "Just when the squad is starting its cleaning duties." Rukia joked, causing him to smile softly at her.

"Yeah well, the place better be all tidy when I come back." She chuckled in response. They wouldn't say goodbye now, compared to their previous separations this was nothing.

Unohana spoke up, making Ichigo tear his eyes away from Rukia. "I will inform the Captain-commander, good luck." Then she was gone, Ukitake and Shunsui following soon after with their own words of encouragement.

Ikkaku left, saying he was going to catch up with Yumichika (who was having his hair done apparently). It was just after that when Nel came up to him, her face serious. The conversation between Renji, Rukia and Ichigo died as she spoke up.

"Ichigo...I'm coming to Hueco Mundo with you. I would like to pay my respects to my friends and see what has happened in Aizen's absence now that I can fully appreciate the situation." He knew she was talking about her being a child before and he looked over to Rukia.

She shrugged. "It's your choice Nel, I know you can defend yourself from anything there and you have much more experience than Ichigo or I. Be careful." Nel smiled at her last words and Ichigo sighed slightly.

'_Why can't I ever get something like that, rather than a punch or a bleeding ear.'_But his complaint was half-hearted. Rukia was Rukia, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Fine, but be careful when I'm training my bankai." Ichigo knew that it would be pointless to try and argue, she had more of a connection to the place than he did.

Rukia smirked at Nel's victory, it seemed to be more and more common that herself or Nel would win. '_Well, at least I will have more time to train with Sode no Shirayuki. As long as I get the immediate work out of the way I can leave most of Ichigo's work for him'_

There was no way he was going to escape his paperwork this way.

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><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumbsy.<em>

(A/N) Nothing to say today really, so thanks for the reviews! Here's hoping this chapter will push it up to 800 :D Thanks again so much!


	40. Return to Hueco Mundo

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Surprisingly, it hadn't taken long for Ichigo to gain clearance to enter Hueco Mundo. The Captain-commander had pretty much demanded that he leave that day (despite Ichigo already planning too) as he had felt the young Captains unstable reiatsu. He had been less pleased that Nel was joining him, but he seemed to be growing somewhat used to the Arrancars presence within his military. Eventually he had been persuaded to allow Nel to join her adopted father in Hueco Mundo. It had all gone so smoothly that it hadn't even reached evening yet as Ichigo and Nel made their way out of the Seireitei to make the garganta. They were asked kindly not to make it inside the Seireitei.

"You ready?" Ichigo asked, glancing at Nel. They were alone, any goodbyes had been swift and inside the Seireitei. No one wanted them gone long.

Nel nodded and opened up the garganta, having much more experience than Ichigo. "Let's go, Ichigo."

Then she jumped into the chaotic mess of black reishi without hesitation, Ichigo followed her soon after. After the rip between worlds closed behind them, Nel spoke up just as a thought entered Ichigo's head.

"You can just run on my path Ichi, it'll be safer." Ichigo scowled, what was it with people always wanting him to follow them in this place, he had gotten better at controlling his power now!

'_And another thing, why must the girls I know always give me nicknames?'_He grumbled to himself. He wasn't sure where this new one had come from...probably Yachiru.

He tried to argue back. "It's fine, I can just make my own one." Nel didn't look back as she responded softly.

"You're here because you can't control your power right now Ichigo, I think it would be wise to conserve all that you can even in minute ways. We don't know exactly what we will find on the other side and Rukia...Mother will be worried." Ichigo noticed how serious she was and sighed. It would be pointless to argue this time, he would never win.

"Fine, but I get to make it on the way back. I don't need Rukia thinking I can't do anything myself..." Nel giggled slightly as she thought about how, in the space of just a day, she had given Rukia enough blackmail material for quite some time.

"Very well, I wish mother could have come with us." Ichigo nodded in agreement (though she couldn't see it behind her).

After all, they hadn't had much time alone and this would have been a perfect oppertunity, though he wasn't about to say that to Nel. "It would have been nice, but aside from it being dangerous I can't leave the squad without a Captain or Vice-Captain again, it wouldn't be fair."

Nel just nodded in agreement and turned her thoughts inward. Beneath the surface she was curious as to what she would find in Hueco Mundo, after she had left with Ichigo. She had memories that stretched back much farther than Aizen of course, but he had let loose numerous Arrancar upon the dessert that had not been there before. What was more, not all of the numerous fought, many just slipped away during the shinigami invasion of Hueco Mundo, lest they be cleansed by the shinigami if they won. The Arrancar would be leagues above the normal Adjuchas hollows, although they wouldn't need to fight or hunt to stay in control and alive if they didn't want to.

But the number of hollows who didn't want to fight was few and far between.

Nel was brought out of her musings as by the presence of Hueco Mundo ahead of her, like a dusty pane into another world amidst the swirling shadows. She glanced back at Ichigo, got a nod, and seconds later broke through it without faltering in her step.

The air of the hollow dessert hit Ichigo first along with a wave of bad memories. Every time he had been here only seemed to end worse, he would rather not end up with a hole through his chest...again.

"Same old place," Ichigo muttered, not fond of the wasteland. Nel nodded but before she could speak she felt four powerful reiatsu's approaching them. She narrowed her eyes and reached for her blade, noticing that Ichigo had done the same already.

His fingers were itching to pull out his blade as the figures appeared before him, but they weren't hollows. They were Arrancars.

"What business have you here?" Ichigo didn't relax when questioned by the blonde-haired Arrancar, keeping his eyes trained on her face as he noticed her distinct lack of clothing.

He was sure he had felt her spiritual pressure before, and looked behind her at the three women accompanying her. Each of them appeared to be deceptively calm, blades all within reach of their hands if need be.

The most powerful one spoke up again, narrowing her eyes.

"Answer me, shinigami." Before Ichigo could retort Nel did for him, her own eyes narrow.

"He is Ichigo Kurosaki as I'm sure you are aware and I am Nelliel tu...Kurosaki. Your predecessor." The former espada's eyes locked together, the old and the new. Moments later Harribel nodded and seemed to relax slightly.

She turned her gaze back to Ichigo. "Regardless of your company, what are you doing in Hueco Mundo. Or more specifically in this area of Hueco Mundo." Ichigo frowned and looked over to Nel.

"Nel where did you take us?" The seriousness evaporated from the green-haired woman in an instant and she shrugged, absently playing with a strand of her hair.

"I don't know, I just made sure it was above ground." Ichigo rolled his eyes but didn't say anything, it's not like he had any more control than her of a garganta.

He turned his focus back to his former enemy. "Sorry, why shouldn't we be here? Though I don't think I've ever actually met you." Harribel shook her head and gave him a slight nod of the head in greeting.

"You have not, I am Tier Harribel, the former tercera espada and these are my Fraccion." The girls each nodded and gave their names.

"Apacci"

"Mila Rose"

"Sung-sun"

Ichigo nodded to each of them. "Uh, yeah like Nel said, though I'm Captain of the fifth squad now too." That seemed to instantly put them on guard again.

Harribel frowned under her espada uniform's collar but didn't attack him straight away. She would not risk her fraccion in a fight that she would likely lose considering the competition. Instead she spoke slowly towards Nel. "I see, what business does the Soul society have here? I feel no hate towards you personally for your actions in the war. But it seems you have become of their system since then."

Nel shook her head in disagreement with her predecessor. "Ichigo isn't here on their behalf. He needed to get somewhere to stabilise his power, though I assure you he is still more than able to protect himself." She made sure that they knew that Ichigo was not open to be their prey. Nel had never met her replacement so didn't know what kind of person she was, she at least seemed rational so far.

Harribel nodded curtly. "Very well. I have no wish to fight either of you, enough blood has been spilt over this conflict...on both sides." Nel returned the nod, feeling better after that statement. The former espada '_Harribel, I believe.'_seemed to share her dislike of violence, which was surprising considering the circumstances but she could hardly complain.

"Ahh, so is there any other reason why you didn't want me here?" Ichigo questioned, she had been rather adamant in enforcing that point moments ago.

Harribel gestured to the lands around her. "This land, this area, is a place which I and my fraccion protect. We make sure that no other hollows enter our boundaries to give us a safe spot, to put it in human terms this is our home of sorts I suppose." Ichigo just nodded, only slightly surprised to her that coming from an Arrancar. After all he knew Nel.

"Gotcha, don't worry we won't be here long, about a week or so should do it. Though you're going to want to keep your distance, I know you're powerful but..." He trailed off, leaving Harribel to guess at his meaning.

"I see. I can only assume you are attempting to control a similar level of power to that of Lord Aizen?" Ichigo nodded, slightly surprised that she still called him by his title. _Former_- title.

He shifted slightly uncomfortably before he looked back at her. "Yeah I suppose so. Are you really okay with leaving me to do this considering that I defeated Aizen?" Harribel was silent for a few moments before she responded quietly.

"Lord Aizen granted us the ability to be rid of the voices which torment hollows, he allowed us to experience more emotion that we thought possible. On top of that he had a power worthy of our awe and respect...but in the end he was simply using us. We were his means to an end, an end which you stopped. Either way your battle had turned, I would have not lived to see this day and protect my fraccion if your friend had not healed us all." Ichigo nodded knowingly. Orihime would heal them regardless of the situation, it seemed it was a good thing she had it seemed.

"Okay, well Nel do you want to go with them?" Nel couldn't say she wasn't curious about them, but objected.

"Shouldn't I stay here and protect you? I mean-" Ichigo cut her off with a chuckle.

"You're almost as bad as Rukia. Nel...the amount of reiatsu that I am going to be producing will stop _anything_getting within twenty or so meters of me. Unless Aizen escaped and is skulking around here." He said the last par as a joke, but Nel frowned.

She didn't want to leave him but he raised a good point, nothing would be able to get close to him. '_What would Rukia do, she always does the right thing.'_She thought wistfully, trying to envision what her impromptu mother would do.

'_Probably shout at him a bit and then watch from a distance.'_Nel realized with a small smile. So she nodded finally and turned to Harribel.

"If you don't mind then, I would be interested to learn about my successor." Harribel just nodded and turned to walk away, Nel following her but glancing over her shoulder at Ichigo.

The young Captain smirked at her and simply sat on the floor, placing his sealed blade across his lap in a familiar position. "Later, Nel."

Then with an explosion of reiatsu, he forced himself straight into bankai, the sand visibly flattening around him as a condensed bubble of pressure seemed to surround him. Even if she wanted to go to him now, she couldn't, the pressure would crush her within moments of entering the bubble. '_Be safe Ichigo, for Rukia and for me.' _Nel thought sadly as she turned away from him.

* * *

><p>Ichigo landed in his inner world and looked around, quickly spying the two figures that he was looking for. Tensa Zangetsu and Hichigo were standing together, both with serious expressions (a rarity for his hollow). Ichigo also noticed that his inner world was different somehow, it was less inviting than usual. Darker.<p>

"So it has begun, Ichigo." Tensa Zangetsu called out, his voice strained against the howl of a biting wind which raged around the buildings. Above him the clouds threatened to break, a writhing sea of grey which rumbled dangerously.

Ichigo walked up to them, his own face grim. "I suppose so, do you know how much time we have?" In response to his question both Zangetsu and Hichigo raised their hands.

Ichigo noticed a black vapour swirling around both of them and raised his own hand to inspect it. His eyes widened as he saw that the black vapour also swirled around his, splitting off and creating a wispy tether between the three of them.

Hichigo waved his hand about a bit, creating a soft trail behind it for a moment. "Heh, 'sjust like those bright things on sticks yah use in celebrations, King." Ichigo raised his eyebrows at his hollows way of taking his imminent death.

"You mean sparklers?" Hichigo just nodded and amused himself by playing with the countdown to his own demise. Ichigo rolled his eyes and turned to the younger Zangetsu. "So this is our clock?"

The spirit nodded and glared down at his own hand. "Yes, our powers will continue to merge slowly in bankai. I stand by my previous estimate of around a week, maybe slightly more, nothing compared to what it took for you to achieve the final getsuga tenshou." Ichigo just sighed.

"Well that sucks, and you can't even help me this time...not that you did before." Zangetsu sniffed indignantly and looked away. "I was not about to give you the information which would lead to, what I presumed, our final farewell. I didn't care about dying at the time...but I would no longer be able to protect you if you lost me." Ichigo's eyes softened and he scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment, it wasn't like he was used to the situation.

"I know Zangetsu and I don't blame you for it, you did what you needed to. But now we're all done for if we can't figure out how to stop this." He turned back to Hichigo, who rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively.

"Don'tcha give me that look King, I know exactly how serious this is and I know I've gotta help out. As screwed up as it is, we're all fucked if this keeps up, and now that I know you can materialise me King..." Ichigo cut him off with a glare, his tone harsh.

"I'm never letting you loose in the Seireitei." The hollow just rolled his own eyes in response.

"I know that, King. Don't get your panties in a bunch." Ichigo continued to scowl at the hollow.

Zangetsu spoke up in a tired tone. "If you two are done, we should work on protecting our souls rather than petty squabbling." Ichigo bit back a retort but Hichigo didn't.

The hollow threw his arm around the Zanpakuto spirit as he spoke. "Ahh calm down, we'll get this sorted out...or we'll all be merged into a whole new being,,,imagine the power!" Zangetsu shrugged of the arm in disgust.

"But you wouldn't be able to experience it, because none of us would exist." The grin on the hollows face fell slightly and he frowned over at Ichigo.

Ichigo raised his eyebrows challengingly and the hollow looked away as he spoke. "That would be a problem, I don't want to have to feel all of your pathetic emotions for queeny and those brats." The shinigami growled at the insult to Rukia and his sisters.

"That's convenient because I don't want your bitchy self to be a part of me either." The hollow just snickered at the response.

Zangetsu growled in irritation, showing the more emotive side of his younger self. "Yes, yes, no one wants to be one being. Now that we have that we have that sorted we should probably actually work on a way of _stopping _that. Instead of complaining." Ichigo scowled, but nodded none the less.

"You have a point."

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><p>Harribel stopped with her fraccion a short distance away from Ichigo's location, close enough that Nel could get back if she thought it was necessary. Nel arrived a few seconds later, her eyes locking with her successors when she arrived. Harribel motioned to the small outcrop that they stood next to.<p>

"Take a seat." Nel nodded her thanks and sat down on one of the boulders that had been worn smooth by sand which blew across Hueco Mundo.

Nel glanced around at the four remnants of the Espada. "Is this all that is left then?" She asked. Harribel, curious as to how much of the old group had survived. Harribel was silent for a moment before she responded, her voice soft.

"The only ones left are us and the one who is on his way now, he shouldn't be long." Nel frowned but didn't attempt to search out who it was. It didn't matter in the end, it wouldn't be Barigan because he simply wouldn't care if he was still alive and he was the only one who posed a threat. As long as it wasn't Nnoitra she didn't mind; she didn't want to deal with the chauvinistic 5th Espada.

Nel didn't want to wallow in the thoughts of the dead Espada, they weren't the best of people but they were all she had as company beside her fraccion, who had been her only true companions. It wasn't like she felt sad that they were dead, most of them only lived to fight or lacked any sort of moral compass. If there was one she felt sorry for it was the Primera Espada, Coyotte Stark. He had only wanted companionship, but in the end he was dead because of it.

Instead of waiting in silence, Nel spoke up. "If this is all that's left, how have things been for you in Hueco Mundo?" Harribel just shrugged.

"We have fared well enough. There's nothing here to challenge us and we have no need to eat. We still hunt because that's all we can do, and keep some semblance of order. Or at least make sure hollows stay where they belong." Nel nodded, then a thought entered her head.

"You said you keep things from becoming too chaotic, but is that only in this area?" Nel asked.

Harribel gestured to her fraccion as she responded. "Indeed, I only pay attention to a certain area in order to make a safe area for my fraccion. Not that they really need it now the Arrancar's are largely dispersed but it's best to be on the safe side."

Nel mentally agreed, she would do the same thing to protect hers. Or she would have if she had still been in her adult form when they were attacked. Not for the first time she cursed her lack of power, she understood Harribel completely. She was suddenly reminded of why she was currently a shinigami.

"Say, did you feel Ichigo when he was being tortured?" Her voice was calm but Nel was prepared to reach for her blade if Harribel said that she knew about the incident. Regardless of her seemingly non-violent nature, Nel would not hesitate in attacking someone who had brought harm to someone she was close to, even if it was just through inactivity.

Harribel noticed her senior's hand drift towards her blade, but didn't react. Hopefully she wouldn't need to.

"I only felt him and the other Shinigami when they first entered, as I suspect you did. Though unlike you I had full access to my powers, so I also felt the Vasto Lorde who took him before he suppressed his reiatsu. Telior." Nel growled to herself. There weren't many Vasto Lorde so they all knew of each other, it was hard not to notice the only other beings of equal power in a large dessert.

She knew that Telior was particularly vicious and violent, choosing to play with his prey before eating it. When she was a Vasto Lorde she preferred to simply kill the hollow and eat it to survive, not make the lives of other hollows even more miserable than they where. The thought that he had captured and tormented the man who had been so unconditionally kind to her, who had given her a family made Nel's anger spike beneath her calm exterior. She now had a father, a mother and Ichigo had given them to her, she would protect either of them with her life in an instant because neither would be complete without the other, but _Telior _had almost killed him.

A voice broke her out of her rare, angry thoughts and she looked up in surprise.

"Oi, stop getting your reiatsu in my face or I might think you're up for a fight!" She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the voice. Of all the Espada to survive she wouldn't have expected him too.

"What a nice surprise, Grimmjow." The former 6th Espada stood on the edge of the circle of females with an arrogant smirk on his face.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd be .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Ah, sorry about the delay, my beta was busy so there's nothing more I could do to try it get it finished earlier. Real life commitments take priority over things like this (depending on what it is) so there's no helping it :) If I am late in posting an update next time, or any other time, please don't ask where it is because it is out of my hands. If I take a break from this story I will tell you in an authors note.

Another thing is that whilst I reply to basically all my reviews, I can't reply to anonymous reviews, so asking me when the next chapter will be would only get you an answer if I decided to answer them here, which would be pointless xD For future reference though, I write a few chapters ahead and always post on Friday if there are no issues.

The manga's getting really interesting atm! I am really looking forward to where this arc will go, though I'm not sold on Yuki just yet. Thanks for your reviews and enjoy the chapter!

(P.S) For those interested, i've written the first chapter of my light novel and am working on the second atm, though I'm still playing around with the order of events and exactly what the plot _is_, hah. Most of my work has been on characters really.


	41. Endurance

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Renji ambled slowly down a street on his way to the fifth squad barracks. Byakuya had dismissed him early for some unknown reason, so he had decided to go and visit Rukia to alleviate some of his boredom. He figured that she would also be bored because Ichigo was still in Hueco Mundo. He wasn't going to lie, the sudden decision and surprising amount of acceptance from Rukia had caught him a bit by surprise, but if Rukia wasn't stopping Ichigo then the red-headed Lieutenant wasn't going to question it.

It didn't take him long to get to the barracks but he stopped when he saw Rukia leaving it. He caught her attention with a shout.

"Oi, Rukia!" She started at her name and turned to see Renji.

"Oh, hey, Renji. How are you doing?" Her childhood friend shrugged as he walked up next to her.

"Can't complain, I'm just bored since my Captain decided to give me some time off." Rukia raised an eyebrow at that.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she responded. "Nii-sama did that? That doesn't sound like him."

Renji nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it, maybe your sister has done him some good." Rukia mused on that for a moment before she agreed.

"I think you're right, I've never seen Nii-sama so...accepting and forgiving. At least he is more so than usual." It was true that Byakuya had become undeniably softer since Hisana had returned. It wasn't that he had changed who he was, but either in the presence of her or those close to him, the Kuchiki Captain seemed to let more things slip.

And though he didn't miss out on an opportunity to make a jab at Ichigo, these seemed markedly less aggressive than before. Despite his less dismissive nature, that still didn't explain to Rukia why he had given Renji-

"Eh, I just think he wanted some time alone with Hisana." Rukia felt slightly sick at the thought, least of all because Hisana looked so much like her (though thankfully less since Rukia had shorter hair now).

She growled and smacked Renji's shoulder. "Idiot, I didn't need to know that." Renji grumbled about her needing to sort out her anger problems but she didn't pay him any attention. He sighed and glanced up at the barracks.

"So are you done for the day then?" Rukia nodded, then hesitated before responding.

"Yes, I've finished up my work but I've got...something else to do now." Renji raised his eyebrows at her evasive nature. She wasn't one to keep secrets so he wondered exactly what it was that she wasn't telling him about. Ichigo had been gone a few days, was she doing something for him but didn't want him to know?

He voiced his opinion. "Oh, you doing something for Ichigo and you don't want him to know? Don't worry I won't ask more, but we have to hang out again soon." Rukia didn't disagree with him because he would have become more curious but instead smirked at the last part of his sentence.

"Indeed, our duties have been a bit hectic recently though. Maybe once Ichigo is back and I don't have to do his work, I'm sure he'd come too." Renji smirked at the thought. If there was one thing that was funny to him (and everyone else for that matter) it was Ichigo and Rukia drunk. Ichigo couldn't handle the Soul Societies alcohol very well and quickly slipped into a careless, happy state. Rukia meanwhile became much more forward and demanding whilst somehow still being cute throughout the night.

When they were together it was hours of fun as Ichigo caused trouble according to Rukia's whim. Either that or they just acted like children for the entire night. When you added Nel, who could act like a child whenever, the three of them were entertainment to all around them.

Not that they knew much about what they did(being drunk and all), though Renji doubted Nel would mind either way since she acted childish normally anyway. Though she only acted like that when she was comfortable around the people she was with..

"Sure, I never miss an opportunity to outdrink the strawberry." Rukia chuckled and didn't disagree, it wasn't like Ichigo had a chance when Renji had been drinking for more than double his entire life. She glanced at him for a moment longer before excusing herself.

"Well we'll make sure to do that, but I've got to go now." Renji responded by eyeing her skeptically but didn't comment.

Instead he just shrugged. "Fair enough, I'll catch you later, Rukia."

"Yes, bye, Renji." She responded before leaving, taking off with a quick flash-step and moving towards the edge of the Seireitei.

As Renji felt her leave he couldn't help but wonder: '_Has she gotten faster?'_

* * *

><p>It didn't take Rukia long to reach her training area, the route had quickly become familiar after her first few visits. She could even follow the trail of her own reiatsu if she went slightly off course, but it was unlikely anyone else would be able to, considering how hard it was to follow a trail of specific reiatsu in the Seireitei. It was easy to pinpoint people and an individual's location(for most people) but following the trail exactly became damn near impossible with all the reishi in the air.<p>

She glanced around the cave and then drew her blade, pushing her reiatsu into it as she did so. She had started to notice that her reiryoku was increasing, with a higher output of reishi becoming easier for her to maintain which allowed her to train for longer without Sode no Shirayuki dematerialising. The spirit was also materialising with less effort now, which was proven moments later when the woman in white formed before her.

"I see you have noticed that your training is already helping, Rukia." The soft, melodic voice said. Rukia nodded and looked down at the blade in her hand.

"It has only been a few days and I can already feel the results of our training." The Zanpakuto spirit just nodded.

Then, without warning Sode no Shirayuki materialised her blade. " You have advanced faster than I anticipated, I suspect your previous training with Ichigo has helped prepare you for this level of combat. Rukia's eyes glazed over slightly as she remembered his...unorthodox method of helping her improve her Zanjutsu.

_Flashback_

_Rukia hit the ground with a soft shout and slid slightly on the stone surface. She growled at her own weakness and started to push herself up as she heard Ichigo's footsteps behind her._

_"Do you really like the floor that much? I would have thought you spent enough time near it considering your size." She pushed herself up, sword in hand and glared at him as he stood a few meters from her._

_He had a few cuts on his uniform but nothing really noticeable, and had gained an annoying smug look over the course of their training. His sealed blade was resting on his shoulder and hers was grasped tightly in her hand. Try as she might she hadn't been able to gain an advantage over him, even despite her greater experience._

_"Shut up." She couldn't find it in her to think of a retort, so instead she just tried to get back to their training._

_Ichigo sighed and brought his blade down from his shoulder, letting the tip point down. "Rukia, we've been at this for a while now, a few months or so but you haven't got into the right state of mind." She scowled and got into a defensive stance._

_"Well you haven't been the best teacher, Ichigo." He growled and moved closer to her raising his blade and pointing it at her._

_"Do you think I've been insulting you and prodding you for amusement?" She rolled her eyes, not bothering to dignify it with an answer._

_Ichigo sighed again and looked at her in thought for a moment before he seemed to get an idea. "Do you want to know what you're lacking when you fight me Rukia? Why I can't help you improve like this?"_

_She nodded, eager to finally be getting to the root of her supposed problem. Moments later she felt a blade at her throat and looked up to see Ichigo looked down at her with cold eyes._

_"You lack killing intent, Rukia. I can't help you improve if you won't fight me at your best." Rukia frowned, very aware of the blade at her neck. She didn't want to move, even if she trusted Ichigo completely she didn't want to give him the chance to win._

_"How am I supposed to fight you like that? Fool." Ichigo sighed. He knew this would be an issue as it would be with him if he were in her situation. He remembered how much of an issue it was when he was first training with Urahara and it was worse now because of their relationship._

_He looked down at her and removed his blade. "Well you are going to have to...if you want to survive."_

_Her eyes widened as she saw him raise his hand and form his mask. He rarely formed it now because it was really only an aesthetic thing, though his Arrancar form did give him access to certain abilities which he otherwise wouldn't have access to. His new, hollow eyes met hers and he swung his sealed blade at her without warning._

_She brought her blade up just in time and was shoved violently backwards on the tiled floor. She gritted her teeth and glance up, in time to see Ichigo appear before her and bring his blade down again._

_"__**What do we have here? It looks like the King has gotten bored of you.**" Rukia's eyes widened as she heard the hollow speak from behind the mask. Ichigo would never refer to himself as King._

_She raised her blade and pointed it at him. "Where's Ichigo, tell me!" The hollow just chuckled mockingly._

_"__**He just let me have control, something about you not understanding.**" He leveled his yellow eyes on her and she could swear he leered beneath the mask. "**If the King has gotten bored of you then it's my turn.**"_

_He punctuated this remark by dashing towards her again, stabbing the, still sealed, blade directly at her chest. She shifted to the side to avoid his attack and he mocked her in response._

_"__**If you can only dodge and block then you're not going to last long.**" He said in a singsong tone, chuckling slightly at his own joke. She growled in response and moved forward with the hilt of her blade, going to crack the mask on Ichigo's face._

_The hollow ducked and stabbed forwards again, only to have Rukia dodge to the side and bring her blade towards him. He parried it with his own blade and chuckled in amusement at her attack._

_"__**Now you're getting it, but if you don't do some damage then I might just kill you before the King comes to his senses.**" Rukia's eyes hardened and she brought her blade up, ready to charge forward._

_"If you insist, I suppose I'll just have to make it so you can't fight." She heard another chuckle and the hollow seemed to tighten his grip on the blade._

**_"Let's see if you can back up your big words_**_**."** That was his last response before he charged forward, blade shining as he swung from the side._

_Rukia moved forward to meet him, angling her own blade so his met with the flat of hers and slid down it harmlessly. She moved hers in a vicious attempt to pierce his arm, only to have it miss as his blade came up to knock hers away. Now in close quarters she elbowed him in the stomach and brought her blade up to slice his arm from beneath. The hollow hissed and flash-stepped away, the cut on his arm not going very deep but enough to cause a few drops of blood to drip from his arm._

_Rukia raised her blade again and prepared to attack. "Now give me Ichigo back." The hollow paused for a moment before raising his blade again._

_"__**You don't think this paper cut is enough to stop me do you?**" Rukia didn't respond and took the offensive, aiming low to try and cut his leg and stop him from running with Ichigo's body._

_The blade sliced into his flesh but it didn't stop him retaliating with his own strike, his blade tracing the skin of her arm, just enough to draw a droplet of blood as she twisted her body to avoid the blow. As his sword continued on its path she took the chance to disable him and stabbed her blade down, piercing his foot and embedding the blade in the ground._

_The hollow froze and looked down before he let his right hand fall down, his blade pointing at the floor. Moments later the mask dissipated and revealed Ichigo gritting his teeth in pain._

_"Did you have to stab me in the same place as Byakuya did?" Rukia's eyes widened and she looked down at her blade, then back up to him._

_"I-Ichigo, your hollow..." In response to her stuttering he chuckled and then grimaced as he shifted his foot slightly and Sode no Shirayuki cut deeper into his flesh._

_"Ah yeah, well I needed to get you to fight seriously. I figured that you might get more aggressive if I acted like my hollow." She continued to stare at him in surprise for a few moments before she growled and glared at him._

_"What the hell you fool, why does every plan you have involve you putting yourself in danger!" He just rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to the blade in his foot._

_"Yeah yeah, can you yell at me after you've removed your Zanpakuto from my foot." Her fierce glare faltered and she looked guiltily down at the blade._

_Ichigo frowned when he saw that and lifted her head up, his hand gently resting under her chin. Their eyes met, his calm ones with her confused, angry and worried ones. He sighed and rubbed her cheek slightly with his thumb. "Stop that, idiot. Don't look guilty, you did what you had to and it worked, this is what I wanted."_

_She didn't move and continued to look into his eyes, searching for the hint of a lie. "Why?" The single question was breathed out softly._

_Ichigo just chuckled softly. "Because now you know that you can fight me without holding back, you can cut me and you can maim me. How do you expect to get better without fighting at the edge? I went easy on you this time but next time I won't hold back...you want to be strong, right?"_

_In that moment Rukia could see how hard it was for Ichigo to say that, for him to fight her like that. If she was worried about his safety he was near obsessive about hers, he never wanted her to be in danger and didn't mind telling her. In fact he frequently told her to stay safe if she went on a mission for any length of time or did any sort of training._

_But he knew._

_Ichigo knew that she didn't want to be protected, it wouldn't change his view or his opinion but he was going to try. To make her stronger, to make sure she didn't feel like he was being overbearing. Even if she knew that he would always be a flash-step away._

_She finally broke their gaze and looked down at his bleeding foot, smiling slightly._

_"Idiot." Ichigo scoffed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Even after all their time together he still didn't make a habit of being open about his intentions._

_"Eh, well would you mi-OW!" He yelped as she yanked the blade out of his foot. Ichigo glared at her like a child and gingerly lowered his injured appendage to the ground, heavily favouring his left foot._

_She rolled her eyes and tried to hide the guilt in them, knowing that he wouldn't thank her for it and_

_would only feel worse than he did, given that he was putting her in any form of danger. "Think of it as something to remind you not to put yourself in danger every time something needs to be done." I_

_Ichigo moved to protest."I don't-"_

_She cut him off with a glare and pointed out something."How many times have you been stabbed?" Ichigo promptly shut his mouth, not wanting to go into his long and painful relationship with blades._

_Instead he grumbled and started limping away, wincing slightly from pain, and slightly from the thought of the lecture that Unohana was sure to have in store for him. Rukia frowned and walked beside him, eyeing the wound but knowing he would wave her off if she offered her help._

_Instead she asked something that he had mentioned. "Did Nii-sama really stab you in the foot too?" Ichigo scowled and nodded._

_"When I fought him on Soukyoku hill he stabbed me in the other foot, I guess I've got matching scars now. Damn siblings." Rukia smirked despite herself that her and her brother had used the same tactic._

_Ichigo glanced over to her, and then sighed. "If you want to be useful stop smirking and help me get down to the fourth." Rukia blinked in surprise, Ichigo was usually far too proud to ask for help._

_She nodded and slipped her small form under his right shoulder, holding him up despite his large size. As they walked down Ichigo leant over to her and grumbled into her ear. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this."_

_She smirked. "Of course not, no one would believe me anyway. How could the big, heroic Captain Kurosaki be maimed by a petite woman." Ichigo scowled at her mocking tone._

_"Devil woman...violent..." He continued to grumble as they made their way to the fourth, looking slightly ridiculous as they did so. Rukia looked smaller than ever under his arm, with his haori almost hiding her from those who looked from behind._

_End Flashback_

* * *

><p>Rukia was brought out of her daze by the sound of Sode no Shirayuki coughing softly. "If you are done having a flashback then it's time for us to start here." Rukia raised her eyebrows at her Zanpakuto, who held her blade softly at her side.<p>

"We're going to fight?" The spirit nodded.

"Indeed, I have concluded that this is the best way for you to increase in power and control of that power at the same time." She raised the blade and shifted her footing slightly to give herself more balance. "I will not have mercy on you."

Rukia's eyes hardened and she raised her own blade. "I didn't want any from you. Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."

She spun the blade and it was replaced by the familiar white one that Rukia had used so many times. She raised her eyes from the blade and looked at Sode no Shirayuki, who nodded softly and then disappeared.

She struck from behind. The air growing cold as the white blade ghosted through it, growing closer and closer to its target. Rukia brought her blade up to block the strike just in time, but was forced back by the strength of the strike, dirt clouding around her feet as she slid along the ground.

She looked up to see Sode no Shirayuki forming several crystals of ice, which were flying towards her in the next instant. Rukia swung her blade, knocking one of them off course, and flash stepped to the side in order to avoid the others. She landed for only a second before charging towards Sode no Shirayuki, not wanting to be kept on the defensive.

But the Zanpakuto spirit had already aimed her blade at Rukia as she charged. "Tsugi no mai: Hakuren."

The blast of snow ripped through the air, barrelling towards Rukia. She reacted on instinct, raising her hand at the blast. "Hado No. 73: Souren Soukatsui!" She felt the drain of the blast immediately, as she was already using much of her reiatsu to keep Sode no Shirayuki materialised.

Sode no Shirayuki's eyes widened slightly at the powerful blast but she slipped out of the way without a problem and swung her sword at Rukia despite being far out of range. Rukia recognised the movement and cursed. She looked down to see the ring of ice forming below her and jumped to the side, catching the ice pillar explode upwards out of the corner of her eye as she landed.

Then she pushed herself onto the offensive again, appearing beside Sode no Shirayuki and aiming her blade at the Zanpakuto's arm. Sode no Shirayuki pulled backwards to avoid the blow, and brought up her own blade to meet Rukia's between the two of them.

"You are surprisingly competent, Rukia, but you won't defeat me at this level." Rukia growled in irritation and pushed her blade forward, trying to gain an advantage.

"I don't see you stopping me." To Rukia's surprise the icy woman just smiled softly and pushed their blades back to the centre.

A flash of light caught Rukia's eyes and she looked down to see ice forming on her blade, spreading quickly up the length and down to the hilt. She tried to pull back but couldn't. The ice was already to solid and spread quickly to her hand, the cold burning her skin and making her wince in pain.

"You won't win, Rukia and you will be accustomed to the sting of my blade long before you achieve bankai." Rukia looked up and their eyes locked. "If you achieve bankai."

Rukia frowned and pushed back, determined to show her blade that she was worthy of her power, despite the chill creeping up her arm. "I will achieve bankai. I will...defeat you!" She raised her reiatsu to try and force the ice back.

Sode no Shirayuki looked mildly impressed but it didn't last long as the blade started to fade. Rukia had used up too much of her reiatsu in her fervour to beat the blade, making Sode no Shirayuki dematerialise.

'_You have started well, but the road to bankai is one of hardship. Until next time, Rukia.'_Her blade gave her a parting message before she receded into Rukia's soul to allow the shinigami to replenish her strength.

Rukia's breathing was ragged and she looked down at her arm, tendrils of frost still lacing it. A reminder of what she had to beat, what she had to overcome in order to obtain bankai. She continued to look at it for a few moments before she used her other hand to smash the ice, revealing the raw skin beneath it.

She inspected it for a moment before she sat down to recover her strength, her eyes closing as she drifted into sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Another training chapter for you, hope you don't mind these xD This entire arc is based of it so I'm sorry if you don't, but it's just something that has to be done, no one but Ichigo gets straight power ups in Bleach, and we see the result of that afterwards all the time.

Now for some rather more depressing news, I haven't decided on it yet, but I may have to put this story on hiatus at some point in the near future. I didn't get the exam results I wanted and I need to work harder and stop getting distracted if I want to do well in the retakes in order to get into university. So I might have to stop this story for a few months until after the exams.

Believe me it will be hard for me too, because I have lots idea's for this story and the last arc that is coming up, to stop so late really irritates me, but I have to focus I am afraid. I haven't decided yet, and I might be able to put out a few chapters mid-hiatus to remind you I'm still alive, but it isn't that I don't have the time to write this story , it's that it can be a distraction from other things.

So I'll tell you if I decide to put it on Hiatus or not, for now thanks so much for the reviews and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	42. Six minus three

(A/N1)Quick note, I'm wondering if you would prefer Zangetsu and Hichigo to speak with or without special effects on their words (bold, italics), I am just curious, I have removed the italics from Zangetsu's words (which are not thoughts) in this chapter.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach<p>

Nel tapped her fingers on the hilt of her sword in irritation. It had been a few days since Ichigo had entered his meditative state and she hadn't felt so much as a ripple in his reiatsu. It was radiating off him like water despite how condensed it was directly around him, and this attracted attention. Normal hollows and even Vasto Lorde she could deal with, after all Harribel had agreed to help. (Though she made it known that it was mostly for entertainment, even if she couldn't help but be impressed by the amount of reiatsu being emitted.)

But Grimmjow just had to show up.

"Are you still being bitchy?" His voice interrupted her thoughts and she glared at him. He had vowed to stay here until Ichigo recovered his power so he could fight him again.

"Are you still waiting around to get beaten by Ichigo?"

Grimmjow growled threateningly."Fuck you, I'll beat that pansy of yours into the ground. Daddy'll be dead before you know it _Kurosaki_." Nel's glare hardened and her fingers stopped moving in favour of grasping her blade's handle.

In the time Ichigo had been in his inner world (Nel presumed), there had been little to do. Many normal hollows had showed up because of Ichigo's reaitsu but they couldn't hope to last long against the six Arrancar, even if Grimmjow had no desire to help Ichigo the thrill of the fight seemed enough for now. When the hollowes had stopped flooding in, they had relaxed slightly and started talking about what had happened after Aizen's defeat.

Grimmjow had been visibly disgusted when she first said she had joined the shinigami and could wield her blade like a true Zanpakuto now (minus the spirit). Nel had simply ignored him and continued talking to Harribel, who had been curious as to how she got away with joining the shinigami after the events of the winter war.

Nel had given them a quick recap of what had happened between her and Ichigo since then, ignoring Grimmjow's comments. Now there wasn't much to do aside from waiting for Ichigo to either succeed or...

Well in Nel's mind, Ichigo didn't have another option.

He always won.

* * *

><p><em><strong>"Yo, King. This isn't working!"<strong>_ Hichigo complained, looking down at the blade piercing his chest.

This wasn't their first plan, but it was the one they had come up with after they had actually thought about the situation. It, predictably, revolved around being impaled with a sword. (Hichigo swore that his partner just liked being stabbed) and was the reason for the odd scene they were currently in.

All three of them had stabbed one of the others: Ichigo had stabbed Zangetsu, Zangetsu had stabbed Hichigo and Hichigo himself had stabbed Ichigo. The hope was that, similarly to when Ichigo learnt the Final Getsuga Tenshou and Mugetsu, their powers would balance themselves out whilst they were all pumping reiatsu into their blades.

Unfortunately nothing was happening.

"I can see that. Well, that's one plan out of the window." Ichigo grumbled. Tensa Zangetsu sighed but didn't remove his blade from the hollow.

"I didn't expect this to work...oh well I'm fine with just staying like this for a while." Hichigo glared back at Zangetsu but couldn't move due to the blade in his chest.

_**"Fuck you, why couldn't I be the one to get Zangetsu!"**_ The Zanpakuto spirit glared back at him and Ichigo frowned.

"Well, then Zangetsu would have to stab me, and he's already done that." Hichigo rolled his eyes at the technicality and threw in one of his own.

_**"Actually that was me and Zangetsu combined, so we both have, retard."**_

Ichigo scowled for a moment, then smirked at Zangetsu. "Fine, he gets you because I know that he's wanted to for a while, happy now?" Hichigo sulked slightly and glared at Zangetsu again.

_**"Fuck no."**_

"Well I don't care. Right, let's stop this now." Zangetsu reluctantly pulled his blade out of Hichigo and the hollow ripped his out of Ichigo, wishing that he could harm Ichigo with it right now.

The three of them were now in a similar position to the one they had been in a few days ago, their time was running out and they had no way of knowing exactly how to overcome the issue. Hichigo sighed and glanced down at the black energy now covering his entire forearm.

_**"Y'know we haven't gotten anywhere with this, just wasted some more time. Good job, King, I always knew ya were a retard."**_ Ichigo just scowled back at him and stabbed his blade into the ground in irritation.

"Like you've got any better ideas?" The hollow shrugged, but looked away when he felt some reiatsu being released near them.

His expression changed to a gleeful one when he felt it and he glanced back at Ichigo and Zangetsu, who were both in thought.

_**"Yo, much as I'd love to stay here and watch you two think, I've got a little fun to have. Catch you fuckers later."**_ Ichigo and Zangetsu couldn't even protest as he disappeared from Ichigo's inner world in a mist of black energy.

Ichigo cursed. "Damn him, we need him or we're screwed." Tensa Zangetsu glared at the spot where the hollow had disappeared from for a few moments, before he sighed and looked back at Ichigo.

"Well, maybe now that his irritating presence is gone we can think this through properly."

Ichigo groaned and brought his hands to his face. He dropped them after a few moments and gave a reluctant nod.

"I suppose you're right, it wasn't like he was helping anyway and we can recall him if we need him." Tensa Zangetsu nodded silently.

Then two of them started going over the issue together, Zangetsu not leaving out any details about his power this time. After all even as a Zanpakuto this area was completely new to him. Meanwhile, Ichigo tried to force his hollow out of his mind, in order to focus on the problem of his imminent death.

He could only hope that he wasn't causing Nel too much trouble.

* * *

><p>Grimmjow was actually doing his very best to irritate Nel because he wanted to goad her into a fight. Unfortunately for him she had enough experience with Nnoitra to simply ignore him most of the time. Instead she would spend time with Harribel and her fraccion, she may not be the most talkative person but her fraccion were at least entertaining to be with sometimes.<p>

"...and that's why I am better than the two of you. It's just a fact." Sung-sun said in her soft voice, not looking at her fellow fraccion as she spoke, who were now just itching to attack her.

"Why you-" Apacci started, only to be stopped as Harribel stepped in.

"Calm down. Sung-sun, stop antagonising them and you two stop falling into her trap." The three of them muttered apologies and it occurred to Nel how much like her children they were.

She suppressed a giggle at the thought, knowing Harribel would not appreciate it. Instead Nel waited until Harribel returned to her sitting position beside her, then started up conversation.

"You know, my fraccion were nothing like yours." Harribel turned her head so that Nel knew that she was listening.

"Well all of us had different preferences." Nel nodded and continued with her previous thought.

"I suppose so, mine were funny and childish at times but they always wanted to help me as much as they could. They never really argued unless it was about something stupid and small, sometimes just to try and cheer me up." Nel looked away as she finished, memories of her dead friends swimming to the surface of her mind.

Harribel noticed and questioned her, after all not many Espada had a bond with their fraccion. "Where are they now?"

Nel said nothing for a few moments, before finally looking back at Harribel.

"They're dead. They died protecting me when my powers failed me." Harribel could see the pain in her eyes and wondered briefly if she would feel that if her fraccion were taken from her.

She knew she would, after all she had felt it when the shinigami Captain-commander had butchered them before. The memory still angered her so she pushed it away.

"I am...sorry. I suppose it's lucky that you found Kurosaki again then." Nel gave a small smile and looked over to where Ichigo was still training.

"It is, though the circumstances were far from what I would call lucky." Harribel gave her own small smile at that, knowing that the circumstances were only lucky in the fact that Ichigo was still alive.

A new, mocking voice interrupted their conversation.

"Oh boohoo, poor Nellie's lost her lapdogs." Nel and Harribel looked around to see Grimmjow rolling his eyes at the pair of them, the former glaring fiercly.

"Just because you can't make an emotional connection with anything doesn't mean you should mock those who can." He just gave a bark of laughter and walked lazily towards them.

"Was that supposed to be an insult? And now your poor little Ichigo is going to die by his own fucking power, just like the pussy he is. I'm just sorry I wasn't the one to do it." Nel didn't react to his statement, her breathing not even changing pace as she looked evenly at him.

"You would never be able to defeat Ichigo, he beat you once and he's even stronger now." Grimmjow snarled at the memory before giving her a smirk.

"Well we'll see about that won't we, at the very least you're too chicken to fight me."

Nel sighed, she knew that it was going to come down to this but hadn't been all that interested in fighting him. But maybe it would be good to put him in his place like she had with Nnoitra.

"Fine."

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at that. "What are you on about?" She rolled her eyes and stood up, drawing her blade from her green sheath.

"I said fine, or can't you understand that. I know you want to fight me to prove that you're stronger and since you're so very much like him I'll do to you what I did to Nnoitra. I'll humour you." He hissed at the remark, almost ripping his own sword out of its sheath and lunging at her.

"Don't toy with me bitch!" Nel rolled under his blade and didn't hesitate in swinging for his legs, attempting to disable him as soon as possible.

But Grimmjow had predicted the move and jumped up to avoid the swing, landing in mid-air. He looked down at her and spun his blade in his hand, a grin growing on his face.

"Well, well. You don't seem all that fast right now, maybe Ichigo will win his own little battle...and come back to a nice. Dead. Daughter." Nel didn't react and kept her eyes on her target.

"Before we go further then tell me this, do you really want to kill me?" The fight depended on this now, she needed to know if he was just going to be like Nnoitra or not. Would he be worth giving a real fight to, or would she simply have to end it before it could begin.

Grimmjow paused at the question, his eyebrows furrowing as he seemed to search for an answer. Finally he found one and he shrugged at her.

"I'm just going to prove to you that I'm stronger, I suppose it _might_not end in you being dead, maybe I can even get a good fight out of you." Nel responded with a sigh, but it was one of acceptance and slight happiness rather than irritation.

Then she was gone, appearing above Grimmjow and aiming a kick at his head from above. He just had time to bring his hands up, but was still launched down into the sand below, making it cloud up around him.

Nel stood in the air and waited for him to emerge, only to be greeted instead with a cero exploding out of the dust. She held her blade out to block the Cero, flying backwards with it before redirecting it to her side. As soon as she had another one flew at her, with Grimmjow himself right behind it. She sonido'd to one side in order to avoid the cero and brought up her blade to block his, forcing the two to a standstill.

"C'mon _Kurosaki _you're disappointing me here." She just smirked and opened her mouth to reveal the pink cero that she had been charging inside.

He had enough time to widen his eyes in surprise before the blast hit him.

Nel watched passively as the ball of smoke formerly known as Grimmjow was launched away from her once again. It took a few seconds for him to recover but he appeared beside her again, swinging his sword with a visibly pissed off expression on his face. She parried the blow and danced off to the side, aiming a jab at his stomach.

He hit the flat of the sword with his hand to knock it away, stabbing his blade forward and slicing into her arm. Nell gritted her teeth and jumped back, putting distance between them as she felt the extent of her injuries.

"Oh no, get back here!" Grimmjow yelled, dashing at her with a raised fist and aiming a strong punch directly at her face.

The former third Espada grimaced and moved her head to the side, avoiding the blow. Grimmjow didn't have time to pull back before Nel slammed her knee into his stomach, taking advantage of his momentary daze to once again slam him into the ground.

However, this time she was on the offensive before he could recover, her blade already moving through the smoke to where he should be. As she expected, she heard the metallic clang of her blade being parried by his and twisted away to get out of the smoke. She landed next to the crater, her blade up and her eyes searching for Grimmjow.

She smirked to herself when she saw the red light being fired once again out from behind the smokescreen. This time she sucked the blast into her mouth, using her special ability to absorb it and infuse her own reiatsu into it. Moments later a pink blast double the size of Grimmjow's original shot out of Nel, enlarging the crater that had formed when Grimmjow had landed.

"Fuck!" She heard a loud curse and Gimmjow appeared, smoking and singed, beside her his blade already moving towards her neck.

She moved back but it hit her shoulder instead, slicing into the flesh and making her wince as she moved away from him. The kept their distance, Nel with a guarded look on her face as she watched for any movement, Grimmjow with excitement plastered across his face. Finally he broke their silence with a bark of laughter.

"So you at least know how not to die, I'll give you that. But how about we get this fight started!" He held his blade up and scratched his hands across it, making the metal cry out.

"Grind, Pantera." He vanished in an explosion of sand and reishi, Nel forced to jump back to not be consumed by the swirling clouds around him. She continued to watch the cloud cautiously, ready for Grimmjow to lunge at her without a moment's notice.

However he didn't, he simply stood there in his resurrection, eyes hungry for battle and his clawed hands flexing.

"I know you've seen me like this before and I want to fight you at full power. I've seen your resurrection too so use it." Instead of activating it she just raised her blade, ready to defend herself from him.

"I'll use it...if I feel that it's necessary." Grimmjow snarled with rage at her refusal, launching off the sand and causing a blast of reiatsu to whip around the sandy plane.

Harribel's eyes narrowed as she watched him, she had never approved of the careless way he used his reiatsu. If something happened to her fraccion then there would be hell to pay, but to be sure she called them to her.

"What is it, mistress Harribel?" Sung-sun asked, to which Harribel responded.

"Stand near me, that idiots not paying attention to his reiatsu and I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire." Mila rose looked like she wanted to protest but kept her mouth shut, but Harribel's sharp look kept her mouth shut.

"_**Is this gonna get interesting?**_" A new voice spoke up and they looked around to see a bored looking Hichigo standing beside them.

Harribel's sword was pointing at him in an instant. "Who are you?" Hichigo just cackled and eyed Harribel with interest.

"_**Well aren'tcha a feisty one. I'm the King's hollow."**_Harribel felt his reiatsu and her eyes narrowed when she felt that he was telling the truth, his reiatsu was very similar to the one that was blazing away a short distance again.

"Why are you here, I was under the impression you were locked within the shinigami's mind." Hichigo just shrugged.

"_**King and Zangetsu are trying to think of some sort of plan to stop us all kicking the bucket. I'm not the plan guy y'know so I left to find something to do."**_Harribel had to refrain from rolling her eyes at the hollows blasé nature to even his own death, she could only assume that despite everything the hollow had faith in his partners.

"Are you going to cause me any trouble?" Hichigo smirked and leaned forwards, his eyes already looking for a fight.

"_**It depends on how fun it'll be for me, of course I could try ya little buddies there...**_" Harribel was about to react to the threat when she heard a loud crash near to them and looked away.

Moments later Nel slid past them, her blade shaking in her hand as she blocked the attacks that Grimmjow was throwing at her. She grit her teeth as his foot dug into her side, keeping her ground and stabbing her blade forward to try and catch his arm. But he just smirked and blocked her attack with his arm, the blade sliding harmlessly down his resurrections armour. He lifted his arm at the same time, aiming his elbow towards her.

"Watch out." He mocked, launching a deadly dart from his elbow.

Nel remembered the move from Ichigo's fight with him and knew how much damage it to cause if she allowed it to hit her. Despite that, she took a chance at his opening and thrust her blade forward again, feeling it cut through the armour on his stomach and rend his flesh.

But her elation at the success was cut short as she felt the dart slam into her shoulder, throwing her backwards onto the ground. She landed in a roll and gave a ragged breath when she came to a stop, pushing herself to her feet.

"You're gonna die if you don't release." Grimmjow spat, wincing slightly as blood seeped out from the deep wound in his side. But right now it didn't matter, he would think about that after the fight.

Nel looked at him stonily, but held out her sword horizontally before her.

"Declare, Gamuza." Grimmjow grinned as a swirl of reiatsu exploded around her, the pressure already creating a weight on his shoulders.

Hichigo cocked his head at the scene, sparing Harribel a glance as he looked away. _**"This might be more interesting for now, when the King's girly has finished her fight we're due for some fun.**_" Harribel glared at him, wanting to take him out now before he became a threat to her fraccion.

Everyone looked towards Nel as she emerged from the smoke, her bottom half replaced with that of a ram and her upper body was armoured. Her hollow mask had also grown out, making it look even more like a helmet and her new look was completed with the large, double-sided lance.

Grimmjow smirked and sonido'd beside her, not giving her a chance to react as he aimed for what he thought would be her blind spot with her new change in mobility.

He got an elbow slammed into his face for his trouble, with such force that a shockwave exploded around his cheek as he flew backwards, landing head first in the sand. She turned around to him and looked down at him from her new height.

"Don't presume you can catch me out because I have four legs now, I'm sure you know all about that, Grimmjow." He growled as she referenced his previous hollow form and jumped towards her without warning .

But she didn't need any, she appeared before him in a burst of sonido and reared up, aiming a hoof at his face. He tried to take advantage of that, slipping to the side and aiming a fist into her stomach. However, she swing her lance below her, forcing him to block or risk being impaled by the mighty weapon. Grimmjow was pushed out by the lance, sliding away from her with blood dripping down from the new wound on his arm which her lance had made.

"Are you satisfied?" She asked, resting her huge weapon on her shoulders. He smirked back at her and shook his head.

"You kidding, you're about...to regret that!" As he said that his hands started glowing, blue light being emitted from his claws as he stood straight and grinned at her.

At last, blue claws exploded from his hands, going straight up into the air. Grimmjow shifted his left foot back and raised his arms, preparing to strike her with the solid weapons. Then he moved forwards, the claws bursting out of his hands and racing towards her,

She didn't move for a moment, remembering all that she knew about his ultimate attack from his fight with Ichigo. That was something she knew, that this was his last chance to beat her if he was using it. Finally, when the attack was half way to her she raised her arm.

"Lanzador Verde." Nel said in a soft voice, before throwing her weapon at the oncoming attack.

It gained strength as it travelled, both her reaitsu and the reishi in the air being drawn towards the tip of the lance. It burned bright pink, an orb at the point with multiple trails spiraling out of it as it spun through the air.

Grimmjow snarled and slashed both of his hands to the centre, the blue claws following his actions and centering his power against hers.

The two attacks hit and a shockwave exploded out from the epicentre, making the sand billow away from them as their weapons. Nel's lance continued to rotate against his attack and Grimmjow growled, pushing back and shouting at her.

"You're not gonna beat me, you Kurosaki's _lose_the first time, bitch!" As he tried to force her attack back his eyes widened as she appeared beside her weapon in a burst of sonido, her eyes harsh.

"But we win, when we must." After that, Nel reached out and grabbed the handle of her spinning weapon, forcing it to stop but pushing her reiatsu in it at the same time.

Grimmjows attack held for a moment, then shattered into a vibrant display of blue shards. He flinched backwards but she was already charging towards him, four hooves pounding against the sand and lance before her. Aimed straight for his chest. He didn't have the time or strength to block the attack, but still he tried to raise his arms, refusing to go down without a fight.

But the attack never came.

Instead he looked up to see her looking down at him, black top half of her shinigami robe rippling slightly in the breeze that was blowing across the endless dessert. Her weapon was held, still aimed at his chest, in her arm only inches from him. He looked up at her and snarled.

"Don't you dare look down on me you bitch, why don't you just kill me." She sighed, but didn't lower her weapon.

"I knew that you were fighting to kill, it was obvious from your moves. So I defeated you as I did used to defeat Nnoitra, like an animal. I have no desire to put down an animal, I have no desire to kill you or anyone else without very good reason." Grimmjow was almost spitting with rage and his eyes were furious as he yelled back at her.

"I said DON'T look down on me! Who the fuck do you think you are, I'm the fucking KING!" He was about to go on when he felt her jam her weapon into his chest, just deep enough to cut him.

"Then prove it to me! Nnoitra was too far gone, he only lived to kill and destroy. I know you live on the thrill of the fight, the kill isn't everything for you. So I'll ask you, are you better than Nnoitra." She asked softly, her expression not changing from the usual one she wore when fighting, her cold one.

"Fuck yes I'm better than that freaky bastard, I-" She cut him off with a shout.

"Then prove it! A dead enemy cannot fight you again, if you were truly the strongest then you would be on a throne of skulls before long. Fight's don't have to end in senseless death." Grimmjow looked away, refusing to admit that she had a point. If he got strong enough that he could beat everyone then what was the point, killing weak things wasn't fun, he wasn't Nnoitra.

He wasn't him.

Grimmjow looked away with a growl. "Tsh, fine. Just stop with the whiny speeches before I change my mind." Nel gave a small smile at her success, happy that she might have stopped any more needless violence or death in the future.

Both of them dropped out of their resurrection forms and Nel sheathed her blade, turning around to Harribel. Her eyes widened as she saw Ichigo's hollow looking at them with a bored expression. She fought back a groan, if anyone was going to antagonise Grimmjow then it was him. Instead of trying to stop the inevitable she glanced between them and spoke.

"Just don't die or cause Icchy any trouble." With that she brushed herself down and went over to Harribel and her fraccion, a girlish smile spreading over her face as she started to relax.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N2) Damn Kubo being sick, I was looking forward to that chapter D: Ah well, can't really blame him I suppose. On that note, I'm sorry for not replying to your reviews and because of the backlog...I'm just not going to reply to those ones xD I'll reply to ones post this chapter but I really don't have time to go back and reply to them, so sorry about that! Plus I need to chill with some ME3.

(Yes I agree with the majority that the endings are badly written, don't post any spoilers though xD)

Thanks for your reviews, I'll get back to responding to them! I still don't know about the hiatus but will be sure to inform you when I do figure it out. Hope you enjoyed this fight scene, I know it wasn't really a main story point but I kinda liked writing it haha


	43. One down, one to go

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Nel didn't look around as she heard the shouting start behind her, just as she had expected. There was no way that Grimmjow would ignore Hichigo despite his current state, and no way that the other hollow would back down from the challenge.

"So you're where he pulled the power for his mask from." Grimmjow said, looking the hollow over despite his battle worn condition.

Hichigo shrugged. _**"Yeah I s'pose, an you're the kitty King beat."**_

Grimmjow snarled and drew closer to the hollow and glared into his eyes.

"You've still got those eyes, I hate those fucking eyes!" Ichigo's hollow snickered back at him, not intimidated by his closeness. Instead he moved closer to Grimmjow, his arms crossed across his chest.

_**"Scared of my eyes? And here I thought you couldn't get any more bitchy."**_ Grimmjow snarled once more and pushed his face closer, trying to intimidate Hichigo.

"I'm not fucking scared, I hate them because they look like you think you can beat me!" Hichigo cackled and moved closer still, cocking his head slightly like a child.

_**"Well maybe we shoul-"**_

"Oh just kiss already." Harribel snorted, smirking as the two froze for a moment then leapt apart as if the other was on fire.

Nel and Harribels fraccion were laughing behind her, Nel not even trying to restrain her giggling as she saw the faces of the two hollows. Hichigo looked like he was about to be sick and Grimmjow looked furious, glaring at Harribel.

He finally managed to string a retort together. "Shut the fuck up you bitch, I'll never know how you got to be number three." Harribel just raised an eyebrow in response.

"Obviously because I am stronger than you." She turned around before he could respond and left him spluttering in anger.

Hichigo laughed him from the side. _**"Ouch, looks like you got put in your place!"**_

Grimmjow clenched his fist and grabbed his blade with the other hand, determined to silence the other hollow. But the hollow just laughed at the action, materialising a sealed katana and resting it on his shoulder as he did.

_**"Ohh, whatcha gonna do, bleed on me? You're already fucked up so unless ya wanna die I suggest you stay there like a good doggie."**_ Grimmjow saw red and could only think about silencing the obnoxious hollow. But it was painfully obvious, even to him, that the fight would be over in an instant, and he would be dead.

He cursed Nel under his breath, then stood straight and glared at Hichigo.

"Fine, but we're settling this in a few days , when I'm at full strength." Hichigo shrugged and turned away from him, more interested now in going hunting. Something he hadn't been able to do in a long time.

_**"Whatever, it better be a good fight 'cuz It might be my last. Later.**_" With that he flared his reiatsu and dashed off into the dessert, searching for the perfect spot to break into the forest beneath.

He didn't use sonido, it felt better to simply run through the sands of his second home. A psychotic grin grew as he materialised his inverted Zangetsu, this time in shikai. He raised the blade above his head and brought it crashing down, tearing the sand apart and making a hole into the darkness beneath.

The howls of the hollows beneath made his blood pump faster as adrenaline coursed through his system. He jumped down without another thought.

* * *

><p>Ichigo and Zangetsu sat next to one another, reiatsu swirling around them as they meditated. Then something shifted, the black reiatsu started to slow and vibrate around them. It drew closer and closer to them, like a small black flame burning with an intense red light.<p>

Suddenly both their eyes opened and the black flames were drawn between then, a trail flaring out of both Ichigo and Tensa Zangetsu's chest.

"Ichigo!" Zangetsu shouted, and Ichigo growled in response.

"I know." He pulled away from his partner, the black flame connecting them stretching and pulsing as they both attempted to break it.

With one final effort they broke it, the flame flaring up around them and billowing out into Ichigo's inner world for a few moments before it settled down. Tensa Zangetsu glared up, cursing the hollow in his mind.

"What the hell is the idiot doing?" Ichigo questioned, balancing Zangatsu's new bankai form on his shoulder as he too looked up.

Zangetsu huffed and looked away, his eyes instead turning to the left, and the floor of Ichigo's sideways cityscape.

"He's being a hollow." Was his simple reply, causing Ichigo to sigh.

Zangetsu looked back at him and noticed the slight frown on his face. "Is that going to give us less time?" The Zanpakuto pondered the question for a moment, before nodding.

"I would think so." Ichigo swore and ran a hand through his hair, once again glaring up at the horizon.

"Well I suppose we better get working on this again." Zangetsu nodded and the two of them sat down again, once more trying to resonate their power in order to find the point at which their souls would attempt to merge. If they could find that, maybe they could stop it, but their clock had gotten much shorter now that Hichigo had left them.

Hopefully they would have more luck without his interference anyway.

* * *

><p>Nel felt Hichigo return three days after he had left. She was quick to get up and wait for him, her mind was becoming frayed at how close Ichigo's self-given deadline was. He had said it would take a week and if not he would die, or at least he wouldn't be the same person.<p>

It had been six days now. Six days and no sign of change from Ichigo, or sign of his hollow who had disappeared into the darkness beneath them.

She looked over to Harribel and Grimmjow, who had just returned from their own hunt to pass the time, Grimmjow looking irritated. Nel gave a slight smile despite the situation. The three Espada had created a game to pass the time. When they went out on a hunt, the one who killed the most hollows was the winner, the type didn't matter just the number.

Harribel had proven to be exceedingly efficient when Nel went with her, so she assumed that Grimmjow had just been soundly beaten by her. Her thoughts were proven moments later when he dropped to the ground beside her.

"You didn't beat me ya know." Harribel sat opposite Nel, her fraccion filling the gaps between her, Grimmjow and Nel.

"Believe what you want, but the numbers don't lie." She immediately looked over her fraccion, checking that they were okay before looking back at Nel.

"Has there been any change with the shinigami?" Nel shook her head in disappointment.

"No, but his hollow is on his way back as we speak." Harribel nodded and Grimmjow grinned, cracking his knuckles and looking in the direction of Hichigo's reiatsu signature.

"Fuckin' good timing, I need to beat something." As of in cue, the hollow arrived.

Nel's eyes widened as she took him his appearance, barely recognising him. A skull-like mask that she had never seen before covered his head and his white shihakusho had been completely torn off his chest, revealing a bony hollow covering over his skin. He now had a hollow hole, complete with black, tribal markings which framed it.

_**"Yo."**_ He said in his distorted voice, stabbing a shikai Zangetsu into the ground.

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at his new form. "Is this your resurrection then?" He sneered, causing Hichigo to smirk back at him.

_**"Fuck of a lot better than yours, kitty."**_ Grimmjow scowled and looked away, building up his anger to be released later.

Hichigo snickered at his silence and turned back to Nel. "_**How's King doing?"**_ He asked.

She replied with slight disbelief. "Shouldn't you know? After all, you're a part of his soul." The hollow just shrugged.

_**"My mind's materialised here, I dunno wha the hell's goin' on, other than that they're still alive."**_

"How do you know that?" He pulled back the mask before he responded, grinning at her.

_**"Because I'm still here."**_ Then he looked down at Harribel, who was sitting in front of him.

She ignored him and continued to look at Nel. "What will you do if Kurosaki dies?" Nel fell silent rather than respond.

That wasn't an option to her, she had thought that at the beginning and she would always think that, Ichigo would always come through.

So she shook her head and looked back at Harribel with a determined fire in her eyes. "Ichigo won't fail, it might come right down to the end and it may look bleak...but he will always come back to us."

Harribel inclined her head to Nel, impressed by the unwavering faith which she had in him. It almost reminded her of the faith she used to have in Aizen's strength...but Nel clearly had some sort of bond with the young shinigami. If the Arrancar remembered correctly, she had referred to him as her father now.

So, with this in mind she looked over in the direction of the training shinigami. "Then, for your sake, I wish him luck." Nel smiled back at her, glad that Harribel didn't make an issue out of it.

Hichigo grinned down at Harribel now. _**"Aww, do we have another Arrancar who cares about Kingy? Ya know, I'm available."**_ Harribel wrinkled her nose and looked up at him.

"I don't know what you are insinuating, but since it's from you I'm going to assume it's rude and incorrect. I just don't want my predecessor to lose someone she wishes to protect." The hollow just chuckled at the insult, mainly because he didn't see it as an insult.

_**"Man, you are much colder than the ickle princess over there. Though she can be just as bitchy if she wants to, then there's the Queeny who can be colder than both of ya."**_ Nel frowned at the insult to Rukia, but admitted that there was an element of truth to that. Rukia could shut of her emotions if she needed to, though she rarely did around her or Ichigo.

Harribel sighed and glared back at Hichigo. "If you're done insulting us, then I think Grimmjow wants some attention."

Ichigo's hollow looked up and his eyes rested on the blue-haired, former-Espada. He could see the battle lust already burning in Grimmjows eyes and his grin grew.

"So you made it back for our fight." Grimmjow said, grinning as he stood up to face the hollow.

The hollow kept his grin and closed his hand around the hilt of his sword. _**"Of course, I ain't gonna pussy out."**_

The two of them vanished a few moments later, only the buzz of sonido explaining their absence. Nel rolled her eyes at the two of them and looked back at Harribel.

"That'll keep them busy." The blonde-haired Arrancar nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, though it may not be long considering..." She trailed off, aware that Nel had looked away. But Harribel could still see that her eyes were filled with pain, the pain that she could very soon lose someone close to her.

So Harribel made a tactful decision and changed the subject, looking over to the direction in which the two men has disappeared. "You know, this isn't even the worst that Jaegerjaquez has ever been."

Nel looked up, slightly surprised to hear Harribel starting conversation, but she welcomed the distraction. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there was one incident when..." Nel listened with interest as Harribel started her story.

* * *

><p>Hichigo smirked over at Grimmjow, the chain on his weapon growing longer as he held it. Moments later he threw the blade up and grabbed the chain, spinning the massive blade in his hand whilst leering at Grimmjow, his demonic mask still raised above his face.<p>

_**"If ya wanna stand a chance of beating me, ya better release that blade. Otherwise this is gonna be short and messy."**_ Grimmjow glared back at him, but knew what he said was true.

So, for the second time recently, he put his hand to his blade. "Grind, Pantera!"

Hichigo just watched with a bored expression as the sand billowed around him, he had already seen the former-Espada's ressurection twice before after all. He just waited for the debris to clear, his spinning blade speeding up the process.

However, he stopped when he saw a blue/green light suddenly ignite within the clouds.

"Gran ray Cero!" Grimmjow screamed out, the cero blasting the dust away as it raced towards its target.

Hichigo let go of the chain connected to his blade, stopping it from spinning. It almost floated in the air for a few moments, before he caught it and brought it down to defend himself from the attack, just in time for the cero to hit it.

The hollow grinned as he was pushed back, feeling the energy which was blasting into him only fuelling his enthusiasm. He cackled and used his left hand to bring his bask back down to cover his face.

Grimmjow wasted no time in pushing his advantage, using sonido to appear above the hollow and slamming his foot down whilst Hichigo was still blocking his attack.

_**"Nice try.**_" He heard the distorted voice and Grimmjow's eyes widened as he saw a bright red ball between Hichigo's horns.

Both Cero's exploded simultaneously the blue and red lights converging into one brilliant explosion. The white dome continued to expand, ripping the sand of the floor and throwing it into the air and obliterating any unfortunate hollows that had come to the source of the large amounts of reishi.

Grimmjow burst out of the explosion, traces of it still lingering on his smoking body as he dropped to the ground. He grinned as he looked into the explosion, sure that he had at least damaged his opponent. The Arrancar looked down at his own body, noticing that there were numerous burns on it and parts of his armour had been torn off by the intense explosion.

Finally the dome of energy burnt out and revealed a large crater, with Hichigo standing on the air in the centre. Grimmjow growled as he saw that he was unharmed, aside from the slight blackening of his white chest.

_**"You really do-"**_ The hollow started condescendingly, but stopped with a sudden intake of breath.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes as he watched, preparing for a new attack. Instead, Hichigo started shaking on the spot, his large cleaver gripped tightly in his hands. Moments later, it fell, dropping into the large crater but shattering before it even reached the ground.

Before Grimmjow could react, Nel and Harribel arrived, the former's eyes wide with terror as she looked up at the hollow before her. But Hichigo just clenched his fists and glared back at Grimmjow, his golden eyes burning into him.

_**"F-fuck, let's finish this."**_ Despite Nel's shouts of protest, Grimmjow didn't hesitate as he launched himself towards his target

His first punch was blocked, though the white skin fractured as Hichigo caught the punch, returning with his elbow. Grimmjow kicked upwards to deflect the attack, vaulting through the air as he did so and landing behind him, aiming another kick for Hichigo's back.

The hollow grunted as it was shunted forward, not wasting time in turning around and shooting off a bala at Grimmjow, causing him slide backwards. But he recovered quickly, shooting out his own attack from his elbow, the thorn barely in the air for a second before it collided with Hichigo's chest. It hit with a sickening thunk, shattering the armour on the right side of his chest and revealing the pale skin beneath.

Hichigo just snarled and ripped out the projectile, throwing it back at the Arrancar. Grimmjow dodged to the side but felt a clawed hand connect with his shoulder. He looked up to see the hollow staring down at him, charging a cero between his horns even as the mask splintered and broke beneath the force of the attack.

So he responded in kind, charging his own cero in his hand to match Hichigo's, preparing to show once and for all that he was the strongest.

* * *

><p>Tensa Zangetsu looked up in fear as Ichigo's inner world appeared to be splintering before his eyes. A smoky, black reiatsu was being exuded by everything, filling the air and making it difficult to see anything.<p>

Ichigo was standing only a few feet away from him, yet they could barely see each other because of the reiatsu spilling out of their arms. Luckily they would hear each other just fine.

"I thought we had more time!" Ichigo yelled, looking around him in desperation.

He couldn't stop this.

"It's the hollow, he's used up too much by fighting." Zangetsu replied his voice slightly disconnected now, as if he was resigned to his fate.

Ichigo growled and walked up to him, holding him by his black cloak. "There's got to be something we can do! I'm not leaving them like this, Rukia, Nel...my family wouldn't even know what happened."

Zangetsu stared back at him, then finally smirked back at him. "Then let's fight this, we have to get back to your hollow in this body." Ichigo nodded and looked up.

"I'll do it" He said, starting to take control of his body, but started when he heard Zangetsu say the same thing.

The Zanpakuto looked back at him, surprised. "You're the most important aspect of us, I'll take your body whilst you conserve your energy."

"But, I'm already taking control." Zangetsu's eyes widened as the area was suddenly engulfed in black energy, swallowing them both up.

* * *

><p><em><strong>"Good way to die."<strong>_ Hichigo grinned as his cero reached its maximum power, Grimmjow returning his grin with his own.

"For you." The hollow gave a gleeful cackle and prepared to release the attack.

Nel could only watch on in horror as her living countdown for Ichigo's life prepared to blow both himself and his enemy to bits. He wouldn't survive even if the blast didn't kill him, his quickly deteriorating state evidence of that.

She cursed her uselessness, cursed Ichigo's power, cursed...anything that might make her feel better about what was happening. Of course, it didn't. She must watch as he died, she couldn't even be there in person.

'_He deserves to have someone with him when he di-'_Her thoughts were cut off when she felt a vast spiritual pressure start to move towards them.

Nel's heart jumped when she felt the reiatsu, it was Ichigo. Somehow he was moving towards them.

She wasn't the only one to notice, Harribel (and her fraccion), Grimmjow and Hichigo all looked up at the reiatsu, Hichigo appearing beside Nel in a buzz of sonido. His cero had been dispersed effortlessly, but his hollow armour was fragmenting still whilst he waited for Ichigo to arrive.

The air was tense as they waited for him, Grimmjow landing to one side and looking slightly put out as his fight had been interrupted.

"Better be stronger now." The Arrancar grumbled, glaring in the direction of the shinigami.

Finally he appeared before them, a wave of reiatsu flowing over the group like water as he stopped. They stared back at him with wide eyes and he blinked in surprise, not sure what the problem was. Ichigo looked over his shoulder just to make sure they were staring at him before speaking.

"Yo, what's up?" No one spoke, even Grimmjow had his eyebrows raised.

"I-Ichigo...is that you?" Nel asked hesitantly. His eyebrows furrowed and he responded.

"Yeah, it's me, what do you mean?" This time a surprised chuckle was his response and he looked over to the owner.

Hichigo eyed him up and down before speaking. _**"What the hell happened to ya, King, this doesn't look like a fix."**_ Ichigo frowned.

"What the hell is the problem, I haven't changed."

Grimmjow snorted and nodded his head up. "Tell that to your hair." Ichigo looked up, his eyes finally widening in realization.

His bright orange hair had been replaced with long, black locks that appeared ruffled. He cursed and spun around, finding out that the hair extended down to the small of his back. Ichigo remembered this hair, it had been present when he had used the final getsuga tenshou.

He looked down, panicked.

But there was no sign of the grey bandages on his body, nor was he exuding that smoky reiatsu anymore. So he looked up and, seeing his hollow, pulled his power back.

He dropped out of bankai and his hollow faded without time to complain, dragging both Ichigo and his hollow into his inner world. His hair reverting back to it's usual orange as he went. 

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Ah and there's a nice display of power for you all xD I hope you enjoyed this fight, even though nothing has happened yet again hehe. If this chapter feels a little rushed towards the end, that is intentional xD

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and review! Way to few last time, c'mon now :P


	44. Sorely missed

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Nel felt like screaming in frustration when Ichigo fell silent again, simply standing there, eyes closed and body frozen. It had been ten minutes and Grimmjow had lost interest, instead he had disappeared to go and hunt to get the battle frustration out of his system since Ichigo was in no position to fight.

Harribel however, had stayed. When Nel asked, her successor had stated that she was curious as to how this would play out, how Ichigo had survived yet again. Nel hadn't pressed the issue and continued to watch Ichigo with bated breath.

Suddenly his reiatsu vanished and her eyes grew wide, watching in horror as his hair grew black and started to grow. Then his eyes opened and he looked up, she was stunned to see that one of them was a piercing blue in contrast to the soft amber of the other.

"One second." Was all he said before he closed his eyes again, his hair reverting to it's usual form once more. But his reiatsu still remained absent, causing Nel to worry even more, despite the fact he seemed to be alive at least.

The minutes ticked by and eventually he looked up and his reiatsu returned with full force. Blinking a few times as he did so. Then he rolled his shoulders, stretching his arms after before speaking.

"Man, I hate sitting in one place for so long." Nel just started for a few moments before she jumped on him, pulling him into her chest with an unyielding grip.

"ICHIGO! Oh my god, Ichigo, you're okay! You are okay aren't you? I mean you look like it, but you still have me worried. I told you not to do that, why do you keep doing it? You are so men when you-" She stopped when she felt him go limp, looking down at him in shock.

"Ichigo?" She loosened her grip for a second and he took advantage of it, pulling himself out of her cleavage and breathing heavily.

"You need to stop doing that, dammit! I'm fine Nel." He spoke a bit harsher than he intended to.

She paused and he saw this, his face softening. "Don't worry Nel, It's all sorted out. I mean it's lucky really, if what happened hadn't happened, then Zangetsu and I would have been fused forever!" She took in his casual tone and dared to hope.

"So, Ichigo is still Ichigo? Because you didn't look like you before." Ichigo just laughed sheepishly and put his hand behind his head.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry about that, it must have given you a shock. Zangetsu said that it was just a side effect and I should be able to control it in time, he's much more relaxed now." She nodded and one more thought came to her mind.

"And, your hollow?" She asked, to which Ichigo just shrugged.

"He's fine too, we filled him in on what we figure must be the reason for me...not dying." She breathed a sigh of relief.

There were a few moments of silence, then Harribel spoke up, asking the question she had been waiting for Nel to ask. "How did you do it? How did you control your power?"

Ichigo looked up and opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a voice in his head.

'_**Don't tell her, King, at least not in front of ya girlie. I want to save it for the big battle you shinigami are throwing.'**_ Ichigo rolled his eyes at his hollow but silently agreed. It would be nice to prove then that he _could_control his power.

So instead, he smirked back at Harribel. "I can only tell you in private, I'm going to save it for the others so Nel can't know now."

Harribel nodded, whilst Nel looked outraged. But before she could object Harribel had disappeared from beside her, grabbing Ichigo and jumping off in her pursuit for knowledge. Nel almost growled in irritation, determined not to be left out she sonido'd after them, catching up to where they stood quickly.

"...and that's how." Was all she caught Ichigo saying, along with Harribels nodding.

"Ah, that makes sense. When dealing with such an intense energy, it's a more symbiotic way than Aizen used so must have more benefits." Nel frowned, deciding that she really wanted to know. So she tried her normal tactic.

She transformed back into a child.

"Itsigo! Why are you so mean to poor Nel, you never tell me anything!" She cried, tears brimming in her eyes as she grabbed onto his torn shihakusho.

But Ichigo didn't yield this time, instead grabbing her by the back of her robe and lifting her up. "Don't think that'll work this time Nel. I'm not going to spoil the surprise and you know Rukia can get you to say anything." He chuckled.

She pouted at that. It was true that Rukia could easily get Nel to reveal the truth to her, no matter how hard Nel tried to hide it. So she settled for simply glaring at Ichigo through her watery eyes. She saw his eyes falter, then he smirked at her.

"I said no. I've got two little sisters and a girlfriend who can all do those eyes, if I really want to hide something from them I can. C'mon, we're done here, unless you want to make the garganta out?" Nel shook her head and he dropped her on his shoulder.

She looked up at Harribel and smiled softly. "Bye bye, Nel would love to come and visit you again!"

The former Espada raised an eyebrow at the child, but hid a small smile under her mask fragment. She nodded her head at her in response. "I would not mind it either." She turned her eyes to Ichigo after this. "Nor you, shinigami. As long as you do not come here to hunt us I will do you no harm."

Ichigo smiled back at her, holding out his hand. "It's Ichigo Kurosaki, you probably know but I'd rather you use it."

She looked down at his hand for a moment before finally shaking it. "Very well, farewell Kurosaki, I will give your regards to Jaquerjaquez."

Ichigo smirked back at her. "Thanks, later Harribel."

With that he turned and sliced his hand through the air. He looked into the darkness before looking down at Nel, who was clinging to his shoulder as she liked to do.

"Ready to go home now?" She started to nod, but paused and looked up at him with large eyes.

"Can we go and see Itsigo's sisters? Nel's never had real family before." Ichigo paused and a look of longing entered his eyes. Then he gave a small smile and nodded back at her, looking back into the void with determined eyes.

"Sure, Nel. I'm long overdue for a visit."

Then he stepped into the darkness, the tear closing Hueco Mundo behind him.

* * *

><p>He stepped out into Karakura town with a smile on his lips. It was hard not to smile, even though it wasn't something he generally had on his face. This was where he grew up, where he became the man he was today, how could he not love it?<p>

However, before do anything else he held out his hand. Nel frowned and poked his neck when she saw this. "Whatcha doing, Itsigo?"

"Calling for a hell butterfly. " He replied. "I need to let Rukia know I'm safe, since I'm not going straight back to the Seireitei...I hope she doesn't get too mad." He added as an afterthought, cringing at the thought of her angry feet.

After all, his shins were not meant to be kicked.

Once he had sent the message to her he looked down at his clothes and frowned. "I better go and see hat-and-clogs first, no need to wander around half naked." Nel pouted but he didn't see.

It only took him a few flash steps to reach Urahara's store, opening the door without checking for his presence. That didn't matter because he was greeted with the sight of Urahara sleeping at his counter, Jinta and Ururu talking quietly beside him.

He caught part of their conversation as he got closer. "I say we should take his hat and hide it." Jinta said, the red-head now taller than when Ichigo had left Karakura, over a year ago now.

"I don't know, I think he has spare. Plus it's slightly mean." Ururu said in response, looking just as cute as she always did.

Ichigo decided to stop the conversation by waking up their target (though in Ichigo's mind he deserved everything he got). So he woke up the man by slamming a hand down on the bell next to him.

"Yo, Urahara get up." The man jumped and looked up blearily, his eyes half-lidded and his hat covering part of his face.

"Ichigo...it isn't that hot is it?" Ichigo rolled his eyes at the shopkeeper's remark about his clothes.

"Very funny, do you have some spare clothes? And a gigai?" The man grinned and nodded, adjusting his hat as he stood.

"Of course I do, in fact I even have a spare haori for you." Ichigo raised his eyebrows and the shopkeeper shrugged. "I figured that someone like you would lose it at least once...now all this will cost you." Ichigo groaned at that. Of course that was the real reason, the more things of Ichigo's he had the more he could overcharge him.

"Fine, just charge it to my account in the Soul society. Now the Gigai?" Urahara nodded and walked off, returning a few moments later with a pile of clothes in one hand and a body in the other.

"Here is your original! I changed it a bit, so it ages to match your appearance now rather than age in human standards, and a few other tweaks." Ichigo eyes it skeptically as he took the clothes. "I also have this little thing for Nel!"

Nel perked up and Ichigo looked behind him at the small replica of the Arrancar lying against the wall. "What about her adult form?" The shop-keeper just smirked back at him.

"You insult me Kurosaki, this gigai is tailored for her, so it will change based on her chosen form." Ichigo rolled his eyes and moved onto his next question.

"You didn't change mine too much did you?" Urahara just chuckled and Ichigo sighed. He knew that his wallet was going to feel this one, the shop-keeper wasn't one to miss up a chance to make money.

Ichigo took the body from Urahara and took it and the clothes into a room to change, leaving Nel to slip into hers with Urahara's assistance. When he was finished he folded the old remnants of his shihakusho and left them in the centre, sure Urahara would dispose of them.

He emerged in his gigai, noting that it did indeed match his body now, longer hair included. Urahara was smiling back at him from the counter and eyed his work appreciatively. Nel was sitting on the counter, swinging her small legs against it as she looked out of the door.

Ichigo paused, he had never seen Nel like this, her child form had lost the skull she normally had and instead her green hair had grown ever so slightly longer. She was dressed in a small dress that only served to heighten her cuteness. A voice interrupted his musings.

"You look good, Ichigo." When Ichigo didn't reply he continued. "Now, I assume you are here to see your family and luckily for you today is a good day. They are all at your house and I doubt they know you are here since this gigai hides your reiatsu by default. I thought you would want to surprise them." Ichigo suppressed a smile at Urahara's perception but the man still caught his lips twitching up.

"You think of everything you know." Ichigo joked, to which Urahara inclined his head.

"I try, now go have fun. I know I will with your money." Ichigo scowled back at him, but it was half-hearted as he left the building Nel, jumping up his back and onto his shoulder before he could turn back to her.. As irritating as Urahara could be Ichigo knew that he and Yoruichi would always look out for him when others could not, for that he would always be grateful.

He walked the familiar streets to his home, which had seemed so far away when he was in the Soul society. Yet if he wanted now he could reach it with a few more flash steps, as it was he preferred to simply walk. Nostalgia washed over him despite it only being a little over a year since he had left, and he smiled at some of the memories he had from his friends. Nel remained silent, her eyes looking around at the new world she was in, since she had never been in the human world after the had become an Espada.

* * *

><p>Soon enough the two of them reached Ichigo's old house and he paused at the path leading up to the door, wondering how he would be received when he entered. Almost slapping himself for being stupid he walked up the door, knocking on it without hesitation.<p>

"Dad, door!" He head Karin shout and he smiled slightly. He heard his dad shout back, followed by the start of an argument when the door was finally opened.

"Hello- Ichi-Nii!" Yuzu's eyes practically sparkled with joy as she looked up at him, wasting no time in latching herself onto his leg.

Ichigo chuckled and tussled her hair, walking in despite the weight on his leg. Yuzu's cry had gotten the attention of the arguing father and daughter, who had rushed into the hall and stopped as Ichigo closed the door behind him.

There was a stunned silence before Ichigo responded. "Hey guys, it's nice to be back." Karin was the next to give, surprising Ichigo by mimicking her twin and throwing herself at him.

Nel wobbled on Ichigo's back and poked her head over to watch the two with interest. Then she looked at Ichigo and spoke. "Are these my family Itsigo?"

Ichigo closed his eyes and waited for the embarrassment to come, which it did in the shape of one Isshin Kurosaki.

"Oh ho! What's this my boy? Been getting busy with my precious third daughter already, you know I've already seen the pictures..." Ichigo paled at this and Yuzu looked up at him from his stomach.

"We have too Ichi-Nii! Daddy even got a big one printed and put on the wall." She pointed and Ichigo turned his head slowly, freezing when he saw a picture of him and Rukia, their faces very close but not touching and their arms wrapped around each other.

Karin looked away from it, her nose wrinkled in disgust and then looked up at Nel. "Who is this then Ichi-Nii? Did you and Rukia really..." She trailed off and Nel answered her question before Ichigo could.

He just stood, frozen and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of embarrassment he had thrust upon him.

"Nel's Itsigo's daughter!" That brought silence to the room.

Ichigo snapped out of his daze and broke this silence by slamming his fist into his father's face, launching him across the room. Despite this he smiled as he hit him, a sense of familiarity washing over him.

Isshin landed with s loud crash, but was on his feet in a moment and beside the poster of Masaki.

"Oh Masaki, our son would display such levels of violence to the next generation of Kurosaki, I know you would be ashamed!" Ighigo gritted his teeth in irritation, the patience he had already slipping away.

"Oh just shut up old man, Nel's my _adopted_daughter. Now take down that damned picture of Rukia and me." At once Isshin was in front of the picture.

"Never! Your sisters need to be reminded of you." Ichigo glared back at the picture.

"But not like that dammit...fine, I'll do it later." Deciding that the picture could wait (but making sure not to forget) he looked back down at his sisters. "You know, Nel really wanted to meet you."

The Arrancar nodded enthusiastically at that, sliding down Ichigo's frame to the floor. Then she walked up to the two sisters, looking up at them with her cutest eyes.

"Nel's never had family before, will you be Nel's family?" Yuzu melted before the Arrancar had even started to speak, grabbing her and picking her up to get a better look at her.

"How cute! Of course we will, let's go!" With that she practically skipped off to her room, aware that she would have time to see Ichigo later. Karin looked over to her father, who was standing to one side, before rolling her eyes and trudging after her sister.

Isshin nodded at Ichigo and beckoned his son to follow him, the two of them walking to the small sofa to sit down. The television was still on, playing the news but neither of them gave it more than a glance.

Finally Isshin spoke up, his voice more serious that before. "It's nice to see you home, son." Ichigo nodded and leant back into the sofa.

"It's good to be back, sorry it took so long." Isshin chuckled and waved his hand.

"Don't worry about it, I know a Captain's duties are tough. And by the looks of it you've had a lot on your plate, at least I got away with visiting you whilst you were injured." Ichigo remembered, vividly, but pushed it aside.

He looked up at the ceiling "How are Yuzu and Karin?"

Isshin shrugged and followed Ichigo's gaze to the twins room above them. "They miss you of course, but there isn't anything we can do about that. You would be going off to university anyway, so they would still have to deal with it."

"But they're alright?" Ichigo asked, slightly worried now.

"Yeah, they're fine. Both doing well in school and Karin's on the football team, but I'll let them tell you about that." Ichigo gave a small sigh of relief and put his hands behind his head.

They relaxed in a quiet silence for a few moments before Isshin spoke up. "You know, I'll be needing all the details about you and Rukia."

Despite his father's attempt at embarrassment Ichigo chuckled back at him. "You're not getting anything out of me...speaking of that, where did you get that picture from?"

His father chuckled back at him and looked over to the large picture on the wall. He had really only put it up recently, figuring that his son would come around at some point and that when he did it would be perfect. Since it had served its purpose he had no qualms about taking it down, it would save his daughters innocent eyes anyway.

"I'll just say that it was from a good friend." Ichigo scowled and looked away.

"Urahara." Isshin looked back at him, slightly surprised.

"That was quick, what made you chose him." Ichigo shrugged.

"Well he's the only person I know that you know. And he was in the Soul society recently so he would have no problem getting something like that." Isshin just nodded, knowing that it was best for him not to reveal that it was Urahara who took the pictures in the first place.

Instead his face became more serious. "Ichigo, how are things going with that Arrancar, Nel wasn't it?" Ichigo thought about it before he responded.

"Well...I think. Nel doesn't have to stay in her child form and she is an adult for most of our time in the Seireitei. She only really becomes a child when we leave the office and she's bored." Isshin nodded, glad that Ichigo had this chance to get an idea of a sort of fatherhood. He had experience with his younger sisters and Nel wasn't exactly helpless but he would prefer his son get experience before the real thing.

With a few more questions from Isshin about Ichigo's usual life, the serene moment ended as the Isshin stood up to go and see the girls. He walked over to the stairs and shouted up them, knowing that all three of the children wanted to see Ichigo again, even if Nel had only been parted from him briefly.

Meanwhile, Ichigo stayed still and waited for the inevitable rush of noise that heralded their arrival. But a black butterfly caught his eye and he held out his hand to receive the message. Rukia's strong voice came through it and Ichigo winced slightly at the concern in it, he hadn't meant to cause her more problems.

"Ichigo, I don't mind you seeing your family idiot, but you could have chosen a better time. I hope you come home quickly to get your paperwork done, it's really piling up on your desk...maybe next time they could come here? Stop slacking." Ichigo grinned at the last part, of course she would focus on the work he had missed. Nothing changed.

He pondered over the last section. '_Could my family come to the Soul society to visit me?'_His father could of course, but his sisters were not shinigami by any means.

'_But they could still come, thanks to Urahara's matter converter.'_Zangetsu reminded him. Ichigo pushed the question aside when he heard his family approach, that was a question for another day.

The rest of the afternoon saw Ichigo catching up on the time he had missed with his sisters, with Nel joining in as much as she could. It wasn't long before the sky darkened and it started getting late, the four of them still talking on the sofa with Isshin standing off to one side and watching happily.

It was nice for him to see his family back together, and judging by the reiatsu he was sensing Urahara had been doing some planning of his own whilst his children caught up.

He chuckled to himself and pushed himself of the wall he was leaning against.

"All right kids, we don't want to keep Ichigo for too long, my precious third daughter might get worried." Ichigo scowled up and him and Yuzu gasped.

"No, is it time for you to go already Ichi-Nii?" He looked down at her sad eyes, seeing Karin with a more subdued version of the same expression to Yuzu's left. Even Nel looked sad to be leaving the two sisters.

He sighed and smiled down at them. "Much as I hate to say it, the old man's right. I've got to get back or Rukia'll kill me for missing out on work." He paused, seeing that their expressions hadn't got any better. "But...maybe you can visit me next time?"

The two of them perked up at that, Karin more than Yuzu because she was interested in seeing the place where the shinigami lived. Isshin thought it over and decided that he would have to speak to Urahara before risking his daughters in any of the scientists contraptions.

"Yeah! You can see where Itsigo and Nel live!" The child Arrancar cheered, making Yuzu smile at her antics. Karin looked over to her and asked the question that had been on her mind for a while.

"Hey, you said you can change form right? Can we see?" Nel nodded enthusiastically and jumped off Ichigo's shoulder, making sure that she had enough room to change before she did so.

Ichigo was surprised to see that the gigai actually released the same coloured smoke as he reiatsu as she changed, reminding himself to pull the punch slightly next time Urahara irritated him. It cleared as quickly as her reishi did and revealed her in her adult form. The twins looked on in surprise at the drastic transformation, which only grew when Nel bowed deeply to both of them.

"This is my true form, thank you for-" She was cut off by Isshin enveloping her in a hug.

"No need to be so formal my luscious granddaughter, I hope you will be the first of many!" Nel only took a moment to register the words before a full blow grin exploded on her face and she returned Isshin's hug with one of her own ones. His eyes started to water at the bear hug but he didn't say anything, letting her squeeze his spine into dust.

Finally she broke off from him and beamed at them all. "Thank you so much, you have no idea how much it means to be accepted by you." Yuzu's and her fathers eyes were brimming with tears and even Ichigo had to force back a smile at the warm sentiment.

Karin eyed her form once again, then glanced over to Ichigo. "I'm guessing that her personality changes slightly to when she shifts...and Rukia's happy with someone who looks like that hanging on you?" Ichigo flushed slightly at her blunt statement.

"Shut it Karin, I'll have you know Rukia trusts me."

Karin just snorted.

"Yeah yeah, I'm sure she and Nel have an agreement." Ichigo was surprised that Karin had jumped to the correct conclusion so quickly. But shrugged it off.

'_It must be a girl thing'_He thought. Regardless of how many feminine qualities Karin had thrown away, she was still a woman. That was where he stopped thinking about it, not wanting to wonder how all the women in his life seemed to be on the same wavelength.

His father once again interrupted his musings, slamming his foot into his sons face and knocking him backwards towards the front door. Ichigo looked up, already angered, but his father was already speaking.

"Time for you to go boy! It's been nice having a punching bag, but it's getting late and the girls need their beauty rest." Karin glared at him from behind him.

"What are you implying, old man" Isshin conveniently ignored her.

Instead he ushered a confused and worried looking Nel over to Ichigo (she was only to happy to make sure he was okay). Then opened the door.

Ichigo started as he saw that there was a woman standing behind it.

"Who-" Again his father cut him off.

"! It's good to see you on time. I'm so glad you could watch the children for the weekend." Ichigo was now confused ('_It's the weekend?'_) but he had already been pushed out of the door by his father who was shouting as he closed the door.

"Bye bye, babies. Daddy will make sure Ichigo gets home safely!" Then he slammed the door shut behind him.

Karin managed to shout loud enough to reach them though. "I told you we would be fine without a babysitter!" But Isshin ignored her of course.

Ichigo was on him in an instant. "What the hell old man I-" A fist cut him off, though barely caused any damage.

"Quiet, your friends are waiting for you at Urahara's shop and I have business in the Soul society...or should I say we." Ichigo was once again confused and Nel was faring no better as she looked between the two men.

Ichigo responded hesitantly to his father. "Wait, friends? We?"

Isshin just nodded and started walking away from the two of them.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) No explanation for the moment xD

Sorry about that, but trust me Ichigo's powers will be explained in the upcoming fights for a Captain's position. In the mean time I have a big reveal and then some IchiRuki after that so you should all be kept relatively happy haha. Thanks for the reviews as always!


	45. Family ties

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Ichigo grumbled at his father's lack of information but didn't say anything to him as they made their way back to Urahara's. Nel was still in her adult form and was looking around with interest at the human city once again, drawing the attention of anyone who passed them because of her bright green hair. It was the one time when Ichigo's hair seemed almost subdued by comparison.

Bored, Ichigo checked to see if he could see who was at Urahara's waiting for him. He was happy to find that his training was helping him and he could pick out the reiatsu signatures of his friends, even Tatsuki's who didn't have the advantage of being boosted by a power. Part of him wished his gigai could use his shinigami powers like the Vizoreds could.

Before he could dwell on the matter more, his father grabbed him in one hand and Nel in the other.

"Nice as it is to walk, I think this will be faster." They were moving before Ichigo could protest, Isshin using his flash-step to move up and across the buildings.

Ichigo growled but didn't protest, despite his embarrassment. He would rather protest _after_ his father had gotten them to Urahara's. And make sure that Urahara let _his_body do that at some point, not restrict it as he had done.

With flash-step it didn't take long and soon they were standing in the courtyard. Well, two of them were standing, Isshin was lying on the floor after Ichigo had knocked him there.

"...why, my son." Isshin groaned melodramatically.

Ichigo just scowled and glared down at the man on the ground. "You should have given us some warning before you grabbed us, better yet you could have made sure my body could handle using my powers."

Isshin didn't respond, preferring to nurse his bruised face. Ichigo rolled his eyes but the doors to the shop opened and disrupted the moment.

"Kurosaki, did you think you could come here without me sensing you?" Ichigo looked up at the voice, his eyes making contact with the speakers.

Uryu stood in the doorway, looking the same as he always did, except he was no longer wearing a tie with his white shirt and now had a black jacket on. The Quincy pushed up his glasses as always and Ichigo smirked at the familiar gesture.

"Well I thought your skills might have rusted over the past year or so." Ichigo taunted back, making the Quincy smirk back.

"You wish, Kurosaki, unlike you I haven't been able to relax in the Soul Society." Ichigo's smirk fell a bit. He felt guilty that he had left his friends to quickly, left them to defend the town whilst he had not had to fight hollows on a daily basis.

Uryu noticed the change in his demeanour and fought to not roll his eyes. Instead he turned around and walked back into the shop. "Come on, Kurosaki. And you may as well change into your shinigami form, I know Orihime wanted to see you in your haori."

Ichigo stood in the dusty yard, not sure how he was supposed to get out of his body. He found his answer when he felt something slam into his back.

His soul popped out of his body much easier than he was used to and Isshin didn't bother to catch his gigai as it slumped to the floor. Ichigo turned to see Isshin pocketing the substitute shinigami badge, before walking into the shop ahead of him.

"Take your time with your friends, I'm going to have a chat with Urahara." Nel walked up beside Ichigo, looking between him and his gigai.

"Do you want me to carry your body, Icchi?" Ichigo blinked out of his stupor and frowned at the body on the ground.

"Nah, I'll do it." Nel inwardly pouted that she couldn't hold his body, but it was short lived as she watched him pick up his gigai.

He hoisted it onto his shoulder without much effort, then glanced back at Nel inclining his head towards the door. "C'mon, not all of my friends have seen you like this, hell Tatsuki's never seen you." Nel nodded enthusiastically and followed him in.

There was no one at the counter and took advantage of this to store his gigai behind the small counter. After he had dropped off his body he searched for Uryu's reiatsu in the small building, using that to find his friends.

However, Nel paused before she left the room, glancing back at the lifeless gigai. Now that she was looking at it alone, she found the thing to be unsettling. Even though she knew that they were a common thing for shinigami to use, and that this wasn't actually Ichigo, the lifeless body disturbed her more than she would care to admit. With a shake of her head she left the room, searching Ichigo out.

He had successfully found the room holding his friends, but he had hesitated before he entered the room. It had been a long time since he had seen them and he hadn't exactly had a long time to say goodbye to them. Pushing the unwanted thoughts aside he slid the door open, his white haori exaggerating the movement.

Conversation stopped as his presence was noticed, all eyes landing on him. Ichigo found himself slightly unsettled, but relaxed when he remembered that these were his friends.

"Yo, sorry I haven't been around much." Much to his surprise, it was Chad who broke the silence.

The gentle giant laughed softly, then shifted slightly to allow Ichigo to sit with them. The young Captain sat next to Chad. His oldest one spoke up next.

"You could've taken some time off to visit your _dear_friends." Tatsuki smirked, eyeing the white robe.

Ichigo paused, but smirked back at her. "Oh, been missing me?" She snorted back at him and rolled her eyes.

"Only that I can't beat you up any more...by the way, what's with the robe?" Ichigo looked down at his haori, taking a moment to remember that Tatsuki had never seen any of the Captain's before.

He shrugged. "Oh, this is my haori. When you're a captain of a squad you get one, though this is a replacement because I lost my other one..." Ichigo trailed off, not wanting to go into detail about his recent near-death experience.

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. "A Captain? Does that mean _you_ have control over a bunch of people?"

Ichigo scowled back at her."Hey! What's bad about that?"

Tatsuki snickered back at him."Oh nothing, nothing."

Ichigo continued to scowl at her, but eventually turned away to speak to the group as a whole.

"So, uh, how have things been?"

Orihime answered him, smiling brightly. "Thing's here have been fine! Though we've all kind of split up to go to college." Ichigo frowned, instantly feeling guilty that they had gone out of their way to come and visit him.

However, she noticed and waved her hands in front of her. "Oh no, it isn't much of an issue, Kurosaki! I was down here to see Uryu anyway."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the lack of her usual formality and looked over to Uryu, who was now sporting a light red blush on his cheeks. Ichigo snickered and smirked at his old rival.

"What's this, _Uryu_?" Ichigo teased.

The Quincy glared back at him.

"Grow up, Kurosaki. Or should we go into a discussion about your relationship with a certain shinigami, Urahara was kind enough to provide us with the pictures you know." Ichigo shut-up quickly.

Chad gave a low chuckle and patted him on the back. "It's nice to see you two finally together."

Ichigo felt his cheeks heating up and just nodded back. He glanced at Orihime, remembering the state in which she had been when he had first left. However she didn't seem to have any of that sadness about her now, instead she seemed to be positively beaming.

"I agree, Kurosaki. It is nice to see you with Rukia, you looked so sweet in the picture!" His cheeks continued to burn.

"R-right, enough about that. What are you studying at college?" Uryu smirked at Ichigo's discomfort.

"Well, Kurosaki, I am studying at a local collage for medicine and will be joining my father at his practice when I have finished that." Ichigo just nodded, not surprised that Uryu had chosen that path. Ichigo himself would likely have followed his father's footsteps in medicine if he had stayed in the human world as well.

Orihime spoke up next. "I'm studying exotic cuisine, it means I had to move but I really enjoy making it." Ichigo paled slightly and nodded. He had hoped that she had decided to take a more...traditional route and from Uryu's pale face he had too.

Tatsuki chuckled darkly at her friends discomfort and threw in her present occupation. "I'm going professional with my Karate." Ichigo smiled to himself. That was another one that didn't surprise him.

"Well I suppose I'll have to give you a fight another time." She cracked her knuckles.

"You bet, as long as you don't cheat and use those powers of yours." Ichigo chuckled back and nodded.

"Sure, I'll still take you on. What about you Chad?" He turned to the giant, who responded softly.

"I'm still with my band, we're making a fair amount." Ichigo nodded and grinned. It was nice to see that all of his friends had done what they had wanted with their life so far. After that the group lapsed into a comfortable silence.

This was broken only moments later when Nel poked her head around the open door.

"Ichigo, are you- ah." She started questioning, but saw him sitting there and cut herself off.

The group of humans turned to look at her, Orihime being the only one who recognised her. The orange-haired girl blinked in surprise at the Arrancar before she broke out into a wide smile.

"Nel! What are you doing here?" Nel, along with everyone who wasn't Ichigo, turned to look at Orihime, surprised she knew who the new addition was.

Then the green hair triggered a memory in the Quincy's brain. "Wait, _you're_that child Arrancar?" He asked incredulously.

She nodded and walked into the room, bowing to all of them. "Yes, I'm now living with Ichigo as Nelliel tu Kurosaki."

She stood straight and made her way over to her adopted father, who was trying to figure out how to get out of this without a million questions. So instead of letting his friends ask them he spoke up first.

"Before you ask, she saved me from a bad situation in Hueco Mundo and I didn't want her to stay there when she couldn't even control her powers. So I adopted her and Urahara shifted the balance of her powers so she could act as a shinigami. She isn't one really, but she can purify souls at least." Nel just nodded along, but frowned when he mentioned Hueco Mundo.

"I wouldn't call that situation as simple as bad..." She muttered, but was cut off by a glare from Ichigo.

Tatsuki squinted at the woman, as if not believing what she was seeing. "Damn Ichigo, why do you know so many good looking women? I bet Rukia loved that." Ichigo just groaned, once again sure that all women in his life were sharing the same thoughts somehow.

"Why does everyone assume that!" He growled out.

Uryu saw fit to fill him in. "Because you have a habit of making friends with anyone, including attractive women. And Nelliel seems...particularly, well overt. As she seems to be rather attached to you." Ichigo looked to his side and saw that Nel was indeed sitting closer to him than was necessary.

Luckily for him it was her that answered the question. "I consider Rukia to be my mother as much as Ichigo my father. Anyway, it's not Ichigo's fault people like him!" Ichigo shot Uryu a smug look at being defended, the Quincy just rolled his eyes.

The atmosphere became less and less tense as the evening drew on, Nel being included in the familiar chat of the friends. More than once Ichigo felt a strong sense of nostalgia at being with the group again, and planned to get back here sooner rather than later next time.

He didn't want the next time he saw his friends to be as they entered the shinigami academy.

* * *

><p>Hours later the conversation was interrupted when Isshin walked into the room, Urahara waiting at the entrance to the room. Ichigo looked up and held his gaze for a few moments before sighing, sad that he had to leave his friends once again.<p>

"Sorry guys, we've got to get going. Rukia hasn't seen me in a week and she must be worried." He knew that if they ever told her what he had said he would get a swift kick to the face, but it would be worth it.

A look of sad acceptance was on all of his friends faces, and it was Chad who spoke first. "It's been good seeing you again."

Ichigo nodded, giving them a smile as he stood up with Nel behind him. In a single movement he turned, drew his blade and stabbed it into the air, waiting a few moments before he spoke. "Unlock."

Then he twisted the blade, a senkaimon opening for him and Nel. He stopped before he entered it, turning back to his friends with a smirk.

"You better be doing better than hanging out in this old shop next time I see you." This got a few chuckles.

Each of them said their goodbyes, to which Ichigo and Nel responded in turn. By the time they had finished Urahara and Isshin were standing next to them. Uryu raised his eyebrow as he saw the shop-keeper prepare to enter the gate.

"Urahara, I thought you were exiled from the Soul Society, they won't let you in like this will they?" The older man just grinned slyly in response.

"I might have been once upon a time, but now Central 46 knows that not only were they wrong in exiling me in the first place, but that I was pivotal in the defeat of Aizen. As such, they kindly offered to allow me back in when I wanted." Ichigo rolled his eyes at the smug tone in Urahara's voice, but didn't say anything.

What he was saying was true after all.

With one final wave, Ichigo walked into the light with Nel beside him, her soul forced out of her gigai as she moved. "Well, let's go then dad, Urahara."

The door closed behind them as they entered the darkness and Urahara matched his pace to Ichigo's.

"You know Ichigo, you don't have to be so formal with me." The shopkeeper said slyly, getting a suspicious look from Ichigo.

"Really? I would have thought you would have liked people talking to you like that." Urahara ignored the insult, his eyes shining with mischief.

"Some people, yes. But in light of what you are about to learn, I think that you should know that I have no problem with you calling me by my given name." The young Captain frowned in confusion.

"What do you-" He started, but was cut off by Isshin.

"Stop spoiling it Kisuke, you know Yoruichi will be mad I didn't tell him sooner already." Now Ichigo was getting angry, so he glared at his father.

However, Isshin was conveniently looking away so Ichigo growled out a question. "What's going on old man."

Isshin looked back at him innocently, as if shocked that his son could suggest that he would ever hide something from him. "Do you not trust me? I only wanted to protect you!" Urahara chuckled at that.

"You always were a bad liar, you just forgot." Isshin pouted at his friend.

"Not all of us create dangerous super-devices Kisuke, and I'll have you know I am a fine liar." The shop-keeper didn't say anything in response.

Nel looked confused by the conversation so stayed quiet, curious as to exactly what would be revealed about Ichigo. The man himself was simply frustrated at this point, Ichigo's father father had yet to tell him anything of his past so he could only assume that this had something to do with it.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Isshin spoke again. "So how is everyone in the Soul Society Kisuke, I didn't get time to check up on anyone when I went to visit before." Ichigo was surprised at the soft tone of his father voice, so stayed quiet.

Urahara shrugged and responded in his usual blasé voice. "Ah, don't worry everything is going fine. You know that the only ones who would know you would be Joushiro, Shunsui, Retsu and the Commander, and it's not like they are pining for you." Fake tears ran down Isshin's face at this.

"The horror, I've only been gone twenty years and they forget me!" Urahara chuckled mysteriously this time.

"Longer than that my friend, or have _you_forgotten?" Before Ichigo could question them the door opened before them, the white marble of the Seireitei now under their feet.

The four of them stopped as the large doors closed behind them, Isshin looking suspiciously nervous about something. Ichigo made sure his father was within his line of sight, he had no idea what the old man was nervous for but it wouldn't end well. Nel watched in silence for a moment before she decided that there were more productive things she could be doing at this point in time.

"Ichigo." Nel called out, making him turn to look at her. "I'm going to see mother to make sure she's okay, it's been a while."

Ichigo nodded, hoping that Nel might put Rukia in a good mood, so when he didn't reveal how he had balanced his power she wouldn't murder him. "Sure, tell her that I'm just sorting something with my old man. If she's free you can bring her back here."

Nel smiled back at him and was gone in an instant. Ichigo looked in the direction of Rukia's reiatsu momentarily before he turned his attention to Urahara.

"So how long are going to wait here, hat-and-clogs?" Urahara smirked back at him and gave Isshin an amused look before responding.

"It should be any second." You could practically hear the clock tick once before someone appeared in a flash, living up to her title with a grin on her face.

"Finally manned up, eh cuz?" Yoruichi grinned (in a way which could only be described as terrifyingly) at Isshin, her countenance appearing all the more catlike than usual.

Isshin winced and gave a nervous chuckle, his eyes darting between Ichigo and Yoruichi. "I'll have you know I'm more man than any woman could handle!" Despite his usual bravado, his statement was less effect because of his slightly hunched posture.

Yoruichi noticed and raised an eyebrow. "Has Kisuke been experimenting on you again?"

"Not this time." Urahara chuckled, watching Ichigo out of the corner of his eye.

That was when it finally clicked in the young Captain's brain and his face turned white as he stared at the goddess of flash. He managed to choke out one word in his surprise.

"Cousin?" Yoruichi's eyes instantly narrowed and she started glaring at Isshin.

"You." He shook his head, but to no avail. "You didn't tell him, even after I beat your ass after he got back from Hueco Mundo for not telling him."

"W-well I didn't have the chance-" Isshin tried, but his excuse was cut off when she slammed her elbow into his face.

"Bullshit, you're just a lazy ass." She continued to glare at him before turning it to Urahara.

"And what do you have to say for yourself? I know that they don't mind you being back here." The shop-keeper didn't look phased by her glare and responded with a wave of his fan.

"Oh, I didn't think the Kurosaki family affairs were my place." Yoruichi just rolled her eyes.

"Is this because I was flirting with him." She asked, referencing her actions when she had transformed in front of him.

Urahara gasped in mock surprise. "How dare ever you? You assume I would hide such sensitive information on purpose!"

She kept her stare on him and tried another tactic.

"Is it because I said I wanted Ichigo's virginity?" She asked.

Ichigo blushed furiously despite his shock, his mind just now starting to pay attention the conversation of the three ex-Captains. Urahara just sniffed indignantly and looked away, now using his fan to hide his expression.

"No..." She shrugged at his answer.

"Well if you are insecure enough to think I'd want to sleep with my family...but FYI if I wanted to I would have already." Ichigo's blush hadn't dissipated when she turned to him.

He grit his teeth and spoke despite his embarrassment."Yoruichi, can we get back on topic?" She snickered but nodded.

"I suppose I owe it to you, since _someone..._" She shot a glare at Isshin who was pouting with Urahara. "Screwed up and didn't tell you when you were powerless."

Ichigo too scowled at the pair of them, then nodded.

"Are you going to tell me more here then?" He asked, to which she shook her head and grinned.

"No, try and keep up." Then she sped off in a burst of shunpo, causing Ichigo to groan.

But that didn't stop him from sprinting after her, using his own mastery of flash-step to track the blur that was Yoruichi. At that speed it didn't take her long to reach her destination and he sped up when he felt her stop, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of being too much faster than him.

She raised an eyebrow when he landed, surprised to see that he had gotten faster. "Well done, I'm not losing my title any time soon but as my protégé you've done better than expected."

Ichigo frowned back. "Since when was I your protégé?" She chuckled in response.

"I think Kisuke and I helped you enough that we can call you that." Ichigo shrugged, she had a point after all. Had the pair of them not helped him then he would certainly not be where he was today, he would be dead or living his life with the guilt of Rukia's death weighing him down.

"Fair enough." Was his simple response. They were standing in the gardens of the building they had stopped near. It was large, not as big as Byakuya's mansion but certainly close to that size. He could see a few people milling about inside the halls, but none of them had noticed the presence of the two intruders.

"So, where are we?" Ichigo asked, to which Yoruichi sat down and motioned for him to do the same.

Once he had she spoke. "We are in the grounds of the primary Shihonin estate, my home before I fled the Soul Society with Kisuke." Ichigo nodded.

"And what does this have to do with me?"

She paused before she answered his question. "As you heard me say, Isshin is my cousin. So you are actually my first cousin, once removed and a part of this family if you wish to be." Ichigo blinked in response, taking a moment to process the information.

"Wait...my dad and I are from a noble family? No way!" Yoruichi chuckled at his disbelief, her eyes not on him and instead on the building she used to reside in.

"It's true you know and whilst I wanted Isshin to be the one to tell you, I gave you a few hints along the way." Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Like what?" She rolled her eyes and looked back at him.

"You don't think I gave you that cloak just for show do you? It is worn as a great symbol of honour within the family but more specifically it is worn by the head of the family." Ichigo didn't think his system could take much more shock in one day.

"The head? But-" He began, but she silenced him by speaking over him.

"I'll explain that later, but that wasn't the only hint you had. Did you ever look at the crest on the front of the cloak?" Ichigo didn't respond, not wanting to incur her wrath.

She smirked at his silence and continued. "Since you obviously didn't, have a look at this." With that she pulled out a small carving from her robes, handing it over to Ichigo.

He looked down at the small carving and studied it. It was a Hexagon with two interlocking rectangles within it, the corners just touching the edges of the hexagon. There was a star with the base points extended towards the centre and a line drawn from each one as well. Finally, the centre of the carving had a diamond with a crescent shape adorning it. Ichigo looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"I don't get it." Yoruichi sighed and grabbed the carving, holding it up beside her head.

"Fine, if there are four stars in this image, what is the crescent shape?" Ichigo looked at the image blankly until she lost patience and turned the image 90 degrees left.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he finally saw what she wanted him to. "Oh, it's the moon." Yoruichi nodded, then pointed to the katana on his hip.

"Excactly, and you have Zangetsu, your father has Engetsu. I have Kamgetsu." Ichigo continued to look surprised, his eyes searching her body for the weapon.

"Peerless moon? That seems a bit presumptuous and I've never seen you use it." Yoruichi smirked and reached into her robe, pulling out a small dagger-like blade and showing it to him.

"I haven't used it in a while, hell I haven't even carried it because I left it here when I ran with Kisuke. I could have come back for it, but I made a vow to myself that I'd only come back for it when Kisuke and I could return to the Soul Society for good if we wished." Ichigo nodded at her serious words, his eyes on the small blade in her hands. He didn't know if he wanted to see it in combat or not, she was dangerous enough without having the aid of a Zanpakuto after all.

"Is that it then?" Ichigo asked, wondering if there were any more 'hints' that he had missed.

She shrugged and eyed him with her piercing golden eyes. "Well I don't know if Isshin meant it but even your name ties you to us. Of course it's significant to you, but the Shihonin clan is tasked with protecting two relics handed down from the royals and the head in particular used to be given the title of defender of the Seireitei, like your own 'one who protects'. That title has since died out, but if anyone would be suited to that title it would be you." Ichigo just nodded along, it was a lot to take in after all.

"Right...so let's get this sorted now, why did you call me the head?" Her face once again became serious and the leveled him with a stare.

"Well that's up to you. I won't take back the position and I doubt they would want me back after I left them the first time, but if you want to then you are entitled to put your name forward.

Ichigo frowned, not thrilled with the idea. But he didn't get a chance to respond when he felt a reiatsu which he had missed on his impromptu holiday. It was approaching rapidly and Yoruichi sensed it too, smirking and looking in the direction of it.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtonguesareclumbsy.<em>

(A/N) Right this chapter is long so I hope you enjoy it xD Truth be told I need to finish of chapter 47! the holidays make me lazy and I slow down, but I'll finish that off tomorrow and start writing 48, don't worry!

Have you all enjoyed the latest chapters? Personally it's been a bit meh, well imo it's been good but nothing has happened to put me on that speculation path yet xD And no IchiRuki for me to read over and over haha. But other than those complaints the chapters are definitely good, no question. Hell the are Soul society arc good, but I can't shake the feeling that we have just started the build up, and that even if the Quincy emperor guy wants to be, he isn't the big bad this time. Oh and on the 'defender of the Soul Society' bit, I honestly don't remember where, but I remember reading it about the Shihonin clan before. So I've decided to use it, but I don't think it's really cannon :/ though I swore it was on the wiki I couldn't find it again!

Thanks for your reviews! And I hope to read more soon. Sorry this came out so late, I got it back late from the beta ('s fault not theirs) and I was tired when going over it. If I haven't replied to your review yet I will tomorrow, promise.

On an separate note, I have a name for my light novel! After much screwing about I am three chapters (ish) in and it's called Kage no nai hi nai – No day without shadows :) Just in case you are interested xD Those chapters take much longer to write than one of these haha.


	46. All work and no play

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Rukia had been quick to move after Nel had found her, after a quick update on the situation from her of course. It wasn't like Ichigo's return was interrupting any work, since the only work left was _his_work, and that was happily piling up on his desk. She smirked at the thought, then glanced back; Nel had declined joining her and instead was going to see Hisana at the Kuchiki mansion. Rukia shrugged mentally and continued towards Ichigo.

Her brow furrowed as she noticed the area she was in before she landed, the large area could only belong to a noble family (though she didn't know which one). Seconds later she appeared before Ichigo, her face still in thought.

"Ichigo, why are you in a noble's garden, idiot?" She said, finally looking at him.

Ichigo, who had been about to speak, scowled and looked away from her. "Oh, that's a nice greeting. It's good to see my absence hasn't shaken you up to bad, Rukia."

She huffed and looked away.

"Well you're here now and well so..." She trailed off and Ichigo took the opportunity to reach over from his spot on the ground and drag her down.

She gave an undignified yelp and fell, ignoring the chuckles from both Ichigo and Yoruichi and instead glaring at him fiercely. But he spoke before she could.

"Just relax, Rukia. I think I've earned a little after nearly dying...again."

She frowned and looked away grumbling to herself for a moment before sighing and taking his hand in hers, her eyes fixed on it.

"It's your stupid powers, you just need to learn some restraint." Ichigo smiled softly and clasped her hand in his.

She looked up at him, her eyes too softer now. They held each other's gaze for a moment before Ichigo leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, causing a blush to rise on Rukia as she glanced over to Yoruichi.

Ichigo ignored the were-cat and spoke softly into her ear. "Don't worry, I'll be fine now...I did miss you, there was no one to shout at me for a whole week."

She smirked at that and rested her head against his, enjoying his presence for a few moments longer before she forced herself back to reality. The pair pulled away simultaneously, Rukia looking significantly more relaxed and Ichigo looking happier.

Yoruichi just grinned at both of them.

Eventually Rukia got bored of the silence and spoke to the ex-Captain."So, mind telling me why you are in this garden?" Yoruichi just chuckled and nodded her head at Ichigo.

"For Ichigo here, since it might be his garden soon." Rukia turned on him when she heard that, her eyes widened in shock. Ichigo was looking sheepish, since he hadn't really thought about the situation yet.

"What? How could you buy something like this?" Rukia practically shouted. But Yoruichi just broke out into laughter into her assumption that Ichigo would have to buy somewhere like this.

"No, Rukia, this is the Shihoin family mansion." This time she looked between the two of them and spoke tentatively.

"W-wait, you and Ichigo aren't-" There was more laughter at this and Ichigo cut her off with a shout.

"NO! Dammit I am not marrying her, I'm her cousin...somehow." Rukia didn't say anything, and just looked at Yoruichi for an explanation.

She was more than happy to help. "Ichigo's father, Isshin, is my cousin. So that makes Ichigo my first cousin, once removed. Even if Isshin changed his name to Masaki's when he married her, Ichigo is still a part of this family and his father's abandonment will not be held against him."

Rukia didn't react for a few moments before she finally she burst out laughing. Ichigo scowled and crossed his arms at her, grumbling under his breath. "It's not that unbelievable."

But that didn't stop her and she continued to laugh for a few minutes before she finally managed to calm down and looked at Ichigo apologetically. "Sorry, Ichigo."

"It's not that hard to believe." He repeated, looking away from her indignantly.

She snickered and shook her head. "It's not that...it's Nii-sama."

Ichigo broke into a grin at that too. He hadn't thought of how the elder Kuchiki might react to it being discovered that Ichigo would be on the same social level as him. It was true that Ichigo and Byakuya really had no problem with the other now, but it was always good to remind him that they were on an even social level now.

"That's true, I think he might just have a heart attack." Ichigo mused.

Yoruichi joined in their laughter, knowing how proud the noble was of his own position. Then she reminded herself of the problem at hand and her face became more serious.

"So, Ichigo, would you like to know more about what being the head of the family would entail?"

Ichigo frowned in response. He had never gained a good impression from the noble families, regardless of which one they were. They seemed to be based on restriction and tradition, none of which he knew the least about. So this choice was hard for him, it sounded like it would be an honour. But then again it would likely be a chore. He already found that being a Captain sometimes restricted him but luckily that was minimal.

He looked away, conflicted. "I don't know, Yoruichi. I don't know if something like that would suit me, the nobles seem to be very confining."

Rukia stayed silent, as much as she wanted to speak to him. Hell, she still hadn't been able to ask him how he had controlled his powers before he had gotten himself mixed up in yet another issue. But this one was his choice, she would support him regardless of what he chose.

"Ah, I can see why you might think that. But look at me, I was head of the clan for a fair while and do I look like your typical noble?" Yoruichi responded, getting a chuckle from Ichigo.

"No, I guess not."

The ex-Captain tapped her fingers on her leg for a moment, thinking about how she could convince him. In truth, she wanted to see someone like him at the head of the clan, they were still her family regardless of how they had cast her out.

Her argument came with that thought and she responded to him. "Listen, Ichigo, I know it might seem like being the head of a noble family means you have to act like, well, Byakuya." She ignored a glare from Rukia. "But the reason why I'm asking you is that I think my clan needs someone like _you_at the head, it's not about them changing you, but you changing them."

Ichigo sighed, knowing that it made sense to some degree. "But won't I have to do lots of clan stuff for them? Meetings, meals and all that rubbish." But Yoruichi shook her head with a grin.

"Nope, well I didn't. I might have attended a meeting or two when it was important but most of the time I just ignored them. The elders might complain but in the Shihoin clan it is the most powerful who is head, so unless you do something as serious as helping a criminal..." She stopped when she noticed that Ichigo was looking pensive.

He rolled her eyes when she stopped and explained himself. "I'm not going to let people die for them. The laws won't stop me from saving everyone I can!"

Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders and looked over at the house. "To be honest now that you're a Captain most of the laws in the Soul society are at the Captain commanders discretion. In my case, I think it was more the fact that I abandoned the Soul society to flee with Kisuke with some, what were assumed to be hollows 'hollows' at that time."

Ichigo nodded in response, knowing that the circumstances around what was believed to have happened and what actually happened was blurred at best. Kisuke couldn't say what central 46 believed completely, he could only guess.

"So, what. You want me to take control of the clan to make it better?" Ichigo finally asked, to which she nodded.

"I do. It might be a lot to ask, Ichigo, but you know as well as I that the noble system has flaws within it. It breeds arrogance and corruption, but I know you won't stand for that in the family. The Shihoin family has never been as arrogant as certain other clans, but it is certainly strict or at least tries to be." Yoruichi finished explaining her reasoning to him and Ichigo exhaled deeply.

It wasn't an easy choice, if only because who knows how much he could screw up the clan. Yoruichi's clan, he didn't want to be the one to somehow ruin it. He knew the Shiba's were once considered equals to the Shihoin and Kuchiki clans, but now...were outcasts.

Would he do that if he messed up?

He had just survived his own powers nearly eating him from the inside, and now he was expected to take in yet another responsibility?

Rukia could feel his conflicting emotions radiation off him, so she put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and turned around to her.

"Ichigo." She said in a soft voice, calming him down almost instantly. "Don't think to hard about this. Either you'll help Yoruichi, or you won't. You might think that you aren't right for the job and I'm sure my brother would agree with you, but you probably thought the same thing when you were offered the Captain position."

Yoruichi watched with interest, noting how the small woman jabbed at his pride, but just gently enough as not to anger him. '_She knows him so well, they were meant to be I suppose_' She mused.

"Do you know what this is, Ichigo?" Rukia asked. He shook his head in response, prompting her to continue. "This is a chance for you to do what you do best, and change people for the better. So..."

Her soft voice trailed off and Ichigo listened intently, only to be met with a a fist as Rukia punched him in the face. Hard.

"Stop acting pathetic and make a decision!" Rukia was shouting now, irritated that it had taken so long for him to grasp the idea. She had tried the soft and loving approach, but Ichigo wasn't catching on fast enough for her liking.

"Argh! Dammit Rukia, every time." He moaned as he pulled himself up from the floor, ignoring Yoruichi's laughter at his injury.

He scowled at both women for a moment before he stood and looked towards the building, his eyes filled with determination.

"Che, fine. I suppose this can't be much harder than being a Captain and it'll be worth the look on Byakuya's face. I'll do it Yoruichi, but you better not leave me high and dry on this." The ex-Captain smirked in approval jumped up, throwing an arm around him.

"Ah, don't worry there, Ichigo. I suppose I'll relent to being your advisor, and you've got Rukia too. I daresay she knows a fair bit about the customs of nobility." Ichigo worked to disentangle himself from her as she spoke, finally managing it and coming face-to-face with Rukia.

She was standing before him with amusement in her eyes and he could almost hear her smirk as she spoke. "Of course."

With that, the three of them headed towards the building.

* * *

><p>The guards either side of the main building's entrance straightened when they felt a group of people approaching. They hadn't been informed of anyone coming in from the main gate so they waited until the people appeared before them.<p>

The response was immediate when they did. "What is your purpose- Lady Shihoin!" One of them started to interrogate the group, but stopped when he noticed who was at the head of the party.

She nodded back at them and gestured towards the door. "Open up, I'm here with Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki. I have to speak to the elders about something." The guard gulped, then shook his head.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but they are currently conversing and do not wish do be disturbed. Also, you are not supposed to be in this complex." Yoruichi's eyes narrowed and the guard backed away slightly, looking to his companion for support.

"They will speak to me. Now I advise that you don't try and stop our passage. Follow me you two." With that she walked past the guards and for the first time Ichigo could see her as a noble princess, albeit an angry one.

She pushed open the large doors without a problem from the two guards, revealing a large, almost empty room behind them. Pillars were placed up the side of it, along with a carpet leading up to an elevated area at the end of the room. Ichigo could make out a few people there: three to be exact, two men and a woman as dark as Yoruichi, talking over what appeared to be a small table.

They looked up when the door was opened, clearly agitated at being disturbed. But their faces soon turned to shock as they saw the former head of the clan moving towards them with a war hero and a Kuchiki princess. The trio stopped before the sitting elders and Yoruichi looked up at them with a serious expression.

"Greetings, I am here to discuss a matter of utmost importance." She started, but one of the elders cut her off with a harsh bark.

"I thought we made it clear that you were no longer welcome in this clan?" The elder was an old man with a balding head of black hair. His features were sharp and cold and Ichigo felt his dislike for this man sky-rocket already.

However it seemed the feelings were not mutual as one of the others frowned at the irate man.

"Calm down, Taro. I will remind you that her expulsion was _not_something we agreed on. And in light of what turned out to be true I hardly think that we need keep it." However, Taro clearly disagreed because he continued to glare and a nonplussed Yoruichi.

"She brought shame on our clan by forsaking her position." Ichigo looked to the third member, who was looking between the two with slight confusion on her face.

The nicer clan elder noticed this and looked over over to her with a slight smile. "Ah, I forgot that you weren't an elder then. To sum it up for you, after a lengthy debate, Yoruichi, our old clan head, was exiled from the clan. She had already been exiled from the Soul society, but recently she has been allowed to return Taro insists that we do not allow her back into our lands."

Taro continued to glare at the ex-head but the female elder simply frowned and looked at Yoruichi. She held the others gaze for a few moments before shrugging and looking over to the other male elder.

"I see no reason why she should remain banned. She has been cleared of her crimes and was of assistance in the winter war. Of course she will not be able to return to her duties as head if she no longer resides here, but she should be allowed to visit should she have the urge." She finished with a small smile directed at Yoruichi, who grinned back at her.

However, Taro was clearly unhappy and blustered. "But-she, I mean-you can't be serious, Takuma, Ume, we cannot go back on this!" Takuma just shook his head and looked disapprovingly at the other old man.

"We hardly had all the facts when the decision was made. Now we owe it to Lady Yoruichi, after all she was not as guilty as she appeared." Taro clearly disagreed, but he simply grunted and looked away instead of starting another argument when he was clearly outnumbered.

Ume frowned at her senior's childish behaviour, but didn't comment and instead turned back to Yoruichi.

"So, what bring you and your esteemed company to us?" She nodded to Ichigo and Rukia.

Ichigo shifted uncomfortably but Rukia returned the gesture by bowing in return, elbowing Ichigo in the stomach to make him mimic her. Takuma raised his eyebrows as he noticed the two people behind her seemingly for the first time.

"Ah, indeed you are. I was not expecting a visit from a war hero and his Lieutenant today, so pray tell us why you have brought them to us, Lady Yoruichi." He said with curiosity, leaning forward to get a better look at the pair of them.

Yoruichi gave a small chuckled and spoke-up. "Ah well you would have been expecting this even less. Do you recall my cousin, Isshin Shihoin?"

The grimace that followed was proof enough to Ichigo that the man remembered his father. It wasn't the kind that he had expected; the one that implied that his father had done something taboo. No, it was the one which he himself gave when he was embarrassed to be associated with the man which was supposedly his father. Ichigo doubted that sometimes, he truly did.

With a sigh of resignation Takuma nodded. "Indeed I do. What about him, he doesn't want to come back does he?"

Ichigo smirked at the trepidation in the man's voice. Yes, the elders had certainly met his father. Yoruichi noticed and held her own laughter back as she responded.

"No, he has no intention of returning here or to the royal dimension. He is quite happy residing in the human world with his children, however there is one person who might interest you. He is currently a shinigami." Takuma frowned whilst Ichigo and Rukia tried to hide their smirks.

It was Taro who got it first, his eyes widening slightly as he spoke for the first time since he had started sulking. "You aren't telling us that you wish to put Isshin's son forward as candidate for head?" Yoruichi nodded in response.

"Indeed, I assure that he is powerful enough and It's clear that you have no one else lined up for the position." Takuma tilted his head in acknowledgement and stroked his aged stubble. He looked over towards Ume and raised his eyebrow in question, but she just shrugged.

"I'm afraid I cannot recall ever meeting with Isshin Shihoin, so I cannot argue from that point. But if this boy is powerful enough then I see no reason for him not to be inducted into the clan and take over, we will be here to assist him regardless." Ichigo made note of her kindness, feeling his like for her increase as she finished stating her opinion.

The young Captain looked to Taro, who he expected to come up with an excuse, however he was pleasantly surprised. "As loath as I am to accept the truth from you, it is unavoidable. We are lacking anyone strong enough to take over the clan at this point in time." Just as Ichigo thought it would be smooth sailing, his stomach dropped when the other man started talking again.

"But, if this boy is as strong as you clam then why have we not heard of him? I would expect him to at least be a Lieutenant, however we know of no one who fits your description." Ichigo stifled a laugh and glanced at Rukia, who remained expertly cool. Though he could see amusement shinning in her eyes.

Yoruichi was faring no better and she openly chuckled at the elders. "Ahh, I thought you might say that. I think you'll find that you have heard much about him. I won't keep you in the dark any longer though."

Before any of them could speak again she pulled Ichigo forward, ignoring his grumbled protest at being manhandled. The watched on in confusion as she spoke.

"Well then, here he is. Ichigo Kurosaki." Their confusion only grew, so she continued speaking with a cat-like grin on her face. "Or should I say, Ichigo Shihoin. His father took his mother's name when he married her in order to sever ties and avoid complications."

Ichigo just stood in silence as the three of them stared at him. Takana (who seemed to be the most experienced of the three) reacted first, his surprised expression morphing into a frown.

"I'm afraid that I'll need some proof of some description before I take your work for that, Lady Yoruichi. I find it hard to believe, you understand." She just nodded at his statement and turned to Ichigo.

"Yo, Ichigo. What's your dad like."

He scowled in response, not bothering to think of his words as he spoke. "My old man's crazy and perverted." Rukia's cool expression broke at that and a smile twitched at her lips.

Yoruichi joined her with a chuckle and even Tanaka gave a slight smile at the description. "I see, that does sound like Isshin...but-" He was cut off when the doors behind them burst open.

"Daddy's here Ichigo, don't worry!" Isshin's voice came from the other end of the hall, causing Ichigo to groan as both his father and Urahara's reiatsu suddenly appeared behind him.

Yoruichi's only comment when Urahara stood beside Rukia was: "Could you hear everything from out there?"

Ichigo scowled at the knowledge that she had known the whole time but she didn't pay him any heed. Urahara nodded and glanced up to the clan elders who were looking in surprise at the two uninvited guests.

He didn't speak though, instead it was Isshin who spoke up again, his voice serious for once. "I can confirm, on my honour, that Ichigo is my son." Taro scoffed at that.

"Your honour, what little there is left of it."

Urahara chuckled at that insult. "He has you there Isshin."

The father just pouted back at him, eliciting a sigh of exasperation from Tanaka. Ume was just watching the proceedings with interest, as she had never come into contact with any of the people present. Eventually Isshin turned back to Taro and seemed to remember the insult, so he laughed at the elder.

"Oh Taro, you were always so harsh. I'm surprised Yoruichi put up with you, but that's neither here nor there. Ichigo is my son and has a right to be head." After he had finished speaking Ume put in her voice, looking at Ichigo with interest.

"So, it is true then. Ichigo Kurosaki is a Shihoin"

Ichigo groaned at that, causing all present to look at him. "I won't have to change my name or something stupid will I? Because I don't want to do it if that's the case."

Isshin beamed at the fact Ichigo was proud of his name, but was restricted from saying anything by Yoruichi, who clamped her hand over his mouth. Instead it was Taro who spoke, a small amount of irritation lacing his voice.

"I suppose not. Whilst it would be preferable, your name is well known and it would be detrimental to change it. If you are indeed indicted into the clan then you will take Shihoin as a middle name, though at formal events for the clan you might be referred to by it." Ichigo nodded, okay as long as he wouldn't have to change his last name.

Now that that had been settled, Ume spoke up again, looking at her fellow elders. "You have to admit, having someone so influential would only benefit the clan."

Takana nodded, but Taro looked pensive. His reason became clear moments later when he spoke.

"That's true enough, but Kur-Captain Kurosaki has hardly been the most law abiding shinigami."

Takana inclined his head, knowing that he didn't have any arguments against the other elder for that point. Instead he looked down at Ichigo and considered him before speaking.

"I agree. However, most of Captain Kurosaki's actions were either to rescue or otherwise save someone and done with honourable intentions in mind. He has not received any serious reprimands from the Captain commander or central 46." Ichigo shuffled nervously at that, remembering the one time that the Captain commander _had_reprimanded him.

Ume had listened with interest and agreed with the older man. "Indeed, if Captain Kurosaki becomes part of the clan there is a strong chance that he will help bring back the clan unity which we seem to have been lacking. After all I don't doubt that he wouldn't hesitate in protecting one of them if in danger." Ichigo once again nodded in response. Taro sighed but this time he didn't have an argument against them, however before he could speak Ichigo asked a question.

"Uh, are there more of you?"

Tanaka looked surprised and looked at his fellow elders. "I'm afraid not. We only have three elders who run the clan, why?"

Rukia answered for him. "Ichigo has only seen the Kuchiki noble clan before this, which I'm sure you are aware has more elders who run it." Takana nodded in understanding and Taro explained.

"Yes, well we find that if you have more people running the clan then you will have more disputes. Though the Kuchiki clan does typically take down the history of the Soul society so that could explain it. After all that is no small task."

Rukia nodded in agreement and Ichigo blanched. Questioning eyes were locked on him and he swallowed before speaking.

"Uh, does that mean that my actions are recorded through the eyes of the Kuchiki clan..."

Rukia smirked at that thought, knowing that if it were up to her brother certain _actions_would be criticised more than others. Though most of the Kuchiki clan, not just him, would be likely to cast a derogatory light on his actions, especially his invasion of the Soul society. Yoruichi let loose a chuckle, releasing Isshin and letting him skulk off to stand beside Urahara.

The ex-Captain smirked himself but decided to put Ichigo's mind at ease. "As much as I think they would like that, no Kurosaki. The Kuchiki clan traditionally compiles and protects the Soul societies history from other sources, so you don't need to worry about your place in the history books."

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief, thankful for that small mercy.

Takana Shihoin smiled slightly, then pulled everyone's attention back to the task at hand.

"Well, now that that has been answered. It seems that we are all in agreement for once: Ichigo Kurosaki, would you like to be indicted into the Shihoin clan?" Ichigo paused, frowning slightly.

"Can you give me any details?"

Ume nodded and started speaking. "Of course. You would join in an official ceremony which we will brief you on. After that you will take assisted control of the clan, by which I mean you will have partial power along with us. Once we feel that you have enough knowledge to take control, we will hand full power over to you. Before that though, we will have to discuss the issue of your captaincy, since we traditionally control the Stealth corps...but that may not be the best course of action for now."

Ichigo looked back at Yoruichi, who grinned back. Then he turned to Rukia, who gave him a small smile and the last bit of encouragement he needed.

"Okay, I don't see why not."

The elders nodded in acceptance of his decision and Taro stood up, looking down at the group before him.

"Very well, now before we discuss it further with you I must ask all those not in the clan to leave. This includes Isshin." The ex-captain pouted and was about to protest but Yoruichi clapped her hand over his mouth again.

"That'll be fine, I will be staying of course. Now you should leave anyway, this could take a long time." Isshin and Urahara didn't miss the promise of pain in her eyes if the didn't comply, and nodded.

Rukia gave a bow and turned around, leaning up to whisper into Ichigo's ear before she left.

"Don't think you are getting out explaining how you are okay to me. Nor have I forgotten my promise from before you left, don't keep me waiting, Ichigo." She smirked as she tempted him, leaving as soon as she had finished.

Ichigo looked over his shoulder at her retreating form, already wishing that the meeting was over.

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Again not much to say, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know that not much happened exactly, but the previous chapter needed a lot of clearing up, so here it is.


	47. Take a breath

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Ichigo yawned as he walked out of the Shihoin estate, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep from them. The meeting had taken longer than he had expected, though he had stopped looking at the clock after three hours spent with the elders. He found it slightly depressing that he had spent such a long time there, so long he, now had no idea of the time.

There had been a lengthy debate (which he didn't actually partake in) about his captaincy. Since the Shihoin clan was traditionally the leader of the Stealth corps. However they currently had an effective leader and Ichigo was the first to point out that stealth had never been his strong point. The elders had reluctantly agreed, but ultimately came up with a solution.

Ichigo didn't know how much he agreed with it, but it was the only way around the situation. What was the solution?

Soi-fon would remain in charge of the stealth corps. For this generation, but when Ichigo had a child, they would (if they were skilled enough) join squad two and eventually take over the squad again. Ichigo had reluctantly agreed, knowing that if that _did_happen and his child didn't want to do it, then Ichigo would be there to support them.

He stretched his arms out above his head, before turning around and speaking to the guard.

"Hey, do you know what the time is?"

The guard, instead of answering, disappeared in a slow (for Ichigo's eyes) burst of shunpo and reappeared a few moments later and spoke.

"The time is 8:30" He stated bluntly.

Ichigo frowned at the late time and ran his hand through his hair. "Ahh man, it's getting late. Thanks."

The guard didn't respond. Ichigo rolled his eyes at the arrogance of the guard, but didn't comment and sped off in his own burst of shunpo.

His mind was running slowly as he moved towards his office, feet just touching on the rooftops for a moment before he pushed off again. Despite the late time he couldn't afford to let himself slow down, he supposed that he would have a mountain of work still on his desk after his long absence. Not only that, but he would prefer to get the work done before he spoke to Rukia about...certain things.

He didn't search for Rukia's reiatsu, assuming that she would already be back at the Kuchiki mansion. When he arrived at the barracks he wasn't surprised to find them relatively quiet, the odd squad member walking around.

"Captain! It's good to see you back." A voice called out.

Ichigo turned to see Azumi smiling at him, so he smiled back and raised his hand. "Yo. How have things been whilst I was away? I didn't get a chance to ask Rukia about the squad."

Azumi simply shrugged and looked over at the barracks. "Nothing to report, Sir. Lieutenant Kuchiki told us that you would be away for a week and that she would be leading any training sessions."

Ichigo nodded, glad that Rukia hadn't let the truth of the situation get out. There was no reason to cause any panic if everything could work out fine after all. He too looked over his barracks and gave a small smile.

"Ah, yes don't worry about it. I just needed to visit my family in the world of the living." The Captain responded.

Azumi nodded and glanced back at him. "I hope things are well, but I must be going. It's getting late and I need to get back to my brother."

Ichigo's interest was piqued at that and he turned to face her.

"I didn't know you had a brother here." He responded. She gave a small smile as though remembering some action of her brother.

"Oh? Well he lives just outside the Seireitei with my parents because he's still young, now if you'll excuse me." She turned to leave, but paused just before she did and turned back to her Captain. "You know, do you think it would be okay if I brought him here tomorrow? He idolises you after all."

Ichigo chuckled and smiled back at her. "Nah, I don't mind. Now get going, 4th seat."

She smirked in response and gave a short bow before leaving the grounds of the barracks. Ichigo thought back on her words, wondering if he would be able to make time for the boy considering he would have paperwork to do tomorrow.

"Eh, it'll be fine." He said to himself with a shrug and with that he decided it was time to get back to his office.

It didn't take him long for him to find his way through the barracks, most of the structure had been consigned to his memory by now after all. So it didn't surprise him when he got to his office sooner than he expected. Ichigo slid the door open and walked to his desk, going to sit down and check what he had missed.

"I didn't think you'd be so intent on your work." A voice made him jump when he sat down and he looked in it's direction, scowling.

"Did you have to wait in the dark?"

Rukia chuckled and walked forward, putting her hand on the hilt of her sword. Eventually her mouth settled into a soft smile and her eyes locked onto Ichigo.

"That's nice, after I stayed up to wait for you. How did the meeting go?" She asked, moving over to the desk and hopping up onto it.

Ichigo leaned back into his chair but kept his eyes on Rukia. "Well, I suppose. There was a lot of talk that I didn't listen to, but it looks like there's no problems with me being the head." She nodded and watched as he yawned again.

"That's good then...Are you going to tell me how you got your power under control now?"

Ichigo smirked back at her and lay his head down on his desk, his arms folded beneath it. "Hmm, was my Lieutenant worried about her Captain."

"Well you do have a fair amount of work still here." She smirked, eyeing the papers stacked on his desk.

He groaned and wrinkled his nose at the papers. "I hope that the clan doesn't expect me to do this kind of stuff."

Rukia stifled a giggle and moved her hand to play with his orange bangs whilst his eyelids drooped in the darkness. "Who knows. Now stop stalling and tell me." Her playful demeanour vanished in a second and Ichigo scowled up at her.

"I swear you're only nice when you want something." He complained. She just shrugged in response.

Sensing that she wasn't going to leave the topic alone, Ichigo sighed and shifted his head so he could look up at her."Fine, fine. But I'm not telling you exactly how, my hollow wants to keep it a secret until the big fight for a Captain's position."

Rukia scowled back at him but didn't comment on it. Instead she huffed and looked away. "Well you said you were going to tell me something, right?"

Ichigo nodded, despite his head being on his arms.

"Like I said, I can't be specific. But my power, the three forms of my power, now work together to assist me. There won't be any more issues with the balance, I suppose this is what you would call my power maturing?"

Rukia snorted and looked back at him.

"I can't see yours doing anything of the sort, but if you say so then I suppose I'll have to wait." Ichigo was suspicious of her acceptance, but chose not to question it. What he didn't know is that Rukia was letting it go because she was in a similar situation with her power, and had every intention of revealing her bankai (when she achieved it) for the first time during the combat.

Instead of pushing him further on the matter she asked something else that had come to mind. "If your power is stable now...how high can your reiatsu go?"

Ichigo responded with a smirk and closed his eyes before speaking. "I don't know for sure, but it really doesn't matter."

"Oh?" Rukia asked with disbelief, Ichigo had always wanted as much power to protect as he could after all.

The Captain just continued to smirk. "Yes. Because you won't be able to sense it after I go so far anyway."

Rukia's eyes widened at the almost impossibility of the thought. There were only two examples of such power that she knew of, one was when Aizen had fused with a device of unimaginable power. The other was only transient and ended up in Ichigo losing his powers for around two years. Did this mean that he had found out another way to sustain such a high level of power?

If it was anyone else, Rukia would have kicked them for being so arrogant. But Ichigo did always have a knack for doing the impossible and breaking the limits.

So instead she sighed. '_At least it will be interesting to watch him when he finally displays this power, since he clearly intends to fight...wait..'_Her eyes widened again as a thought presented itself.

"Wait a second, Ichigo. How do you expect people to become Captain's if you have that sort of power at your disposal, I mean they might have to fight you?"

He snickered before answering her. "What? Feeling scared I might beat you out of a position?"

Rukia rolled her eyes and looked away from him. "Don't be stupid, strawberry. Beside, you know I don't have bankai." Ichigo just mumbled a response, his brain finally starting to shut down disregarding the mountain of work still piled on his desk.

"Mmm, I'm sure you will get it...Rukia..." She blinked in surprise. Did he already know that he had been training? Did someone else tell him? Did-

Her questions stopped when she looked down and saw that her partner had indeed fallen asleep on his table. Rukia smiled softly, glad to have him back after his unexpected absence. She reached over again and ran her hand through his hair, frowning slightly as she felt grains of sand and dirt in it. Had he even washed before visiting his family?

The Lieutenant's eyes were soft as she watched over her Captain for a few moments longer, wondering what she should do. She didn't want him to stay at his desk all night, but the alternative was her moving his body, which was significantly larger than hers. That would undoubtedly result in Ichigo's head or at least one other body part hitting something. And whilst normally she wouldn't have _that_much of a problem with it, she didn't want to wake him up.

He deserved his rest.

So she ran her hands through his hair once more and leant over to brush her lips against his cheek. She whispered a goodbye into his ears before she pulled away. "Better get your sleep, Ichigo. No rest for a Captain.

Her true thoughts said in the comfort of an empty room, she hopped off the desk and started the walk back to the Kuchiki mansion for some sleep.

* * *

><p>"..chy, Icchy!" A shrill voice cut through the shroud of sleep and Ichigo groaned, his still closed eyes squeezing tighter as he felt that his face was against a hard surface.<p>

"Huh?" Ichigo mumbled, opening his eyes against the light and forcing his head up from whatever it resting on.

He looked down and his eyes focused onto his desk. "Oh" Now that that mystery had been figure out he looked up to see who had woken him up.

His eyes were instantly assaulted with a vibrant display of pink and green, causing him to wince as his eyes adjusted to the colours.

"Wakey wakey, Icchy! Or I'll get Kenny to wake you up!" That made Ichigo shoot up, and he was able in instantly recognise the two small figures in front of him.

Yachiru and Nel were standing in front of his desk, both lower than the furniture itself, and looking up at a tired Ichigo. He gave them a tied smile, finding it hard to stay angry at the two balls of energy and yawned loudly before speaking.

"Mornin' you two, any reason why you decided to wake me up?"

Nel looked down at the floor guiltily, but Yachiru didn't have such reservations. "Well, Nel said that you were sleeping on your desk and didn't look very comfortable. I thought she was right, so woke you up!" Yachiru beamed.

Nel finally looked up with large, guilty eyes. "Nel's sowwy, Itsigo! Nel knows Itsigo hasn't been able to sleep much and-"

"Don't worry Nel, I know you were just looking out for me." Ichigo reassured, making her smile up at him.

Then, without warning, she hopped up onto the desk and jumped into Ichigo's arms, nuzzling her face into his shihakusho. Ichigo was surprised for a moment, then smiled and tightened an arm around her. It was one of those moments when he actually acted like a father, and he had to say that he enjoyed these moments.

Yachiru smiled herself as she watched them, reminded of Kenpachi: her own father figure. She walked back slightly, then blinked when her back hit something. She looked up to find the Lieutenant of squad five standing behind her with a small smile on her face.

"Oh, hey shorty!" Yachiru crowed.

Rukia looked down at her, finding it ironic that she of all people would call her short. But she ignored it and stood still as Yachiru bounced up onto her shoulder. "Hello Lieutenant, what are you doing here so early?" Rukia asked.

Her fellow lieutenant just pointed at the two behind the Captain's desk. "I wanted to come and see Nel, and Nel wanted to come and see Icchy!"

Rukia nodded and turned to Ichigo. "Ah, well, Ichigo, aside from making sure you didn't fall off your chair I'm here to ask you about a boy whose wondering about the barracks?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, his conversation with Azumi last night not surfacing in his memory. Instead he frowned and stood up, Nel crawling up to his shoulder to stop from falling.

"A little boy huh? I don't know, let's go and find out." He moved out from behind his desk but stopped when he was next to Rukia. "You could work on your wake up calls you know."

She just smirked. "Well, if you weren't being lazy I wouldn't have to."

He rolled his eyes and walked past her, muttering as he did so. "Other Captain's don't have to deal with smart ass Lieutenants in the morning."

"Other Captain's aren't also in a relationship with their Lieutenants, besides count yourself lucky you're not Captain Kyoraku." Rukia retorted.

Ichigo snorted, giving her that point. It wasn't that he didn't like Nanao, but he didn't like work that much either. "True enough, you know your brother only has Renji...I wonder..."

He trailed off and it took Rukia a few moments to get where he was going, but she turned slightly green when she did so. Growling, she punched him mercilessly in the arm.

"Idiot! Why would you say something like that, I didn't need those sorts of mental images. I get enough of that at the SWA."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and spoke incredulously. "What? They talk about...that kind of thing."  
>Rukia started turning red and looked away from him, clearly disturbed by their topic. "W-well I may have heard them talking about it before."<p>

"You always come with me when they start talking about two boys, shorty. But you still listen to them!" Yachiru piped up helpfully, causing Rukia to flush a deeper shade of red.

"Children shouldn't talk about that." She mumbled as a response, ignoring the look Ichigo was giving her.,

He blanched at a sudden thought and spoke before he thought of the implications. "Wait, Rukia was I ever...no actually, I don't want to know." He stopped himself when he thought about what he was going to ask.

Rukia had guessed what he would ask and was finding the floor very interesting in lieu of actually looking at his face.

When they arrived at the courtyard Ichigo caught site of his fourth seat with a small boy standing beside her leg and looking around shyly. When the boy saw the Captain and Lieutenant walking towards them he moved backwards behind his sisters leg and poked his head out just enough to see Ichigo.

Azumi smiled when she saw him and gave a small bow. "Ahh, Captain I'm glad to see you remembered! This is my brother, Ken'ichi, he's, eh, a fan I suppose you would say."

Ichigo blinked and said nothing for a moment, then finally managed to drag back the memory from his tired mine the night before. When he had he smiled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, even though he knew that she didn't know he had forgotten.

"Oh right." He said, looking down at the boy in question. "Hey, I'm Ichigo."

The boy paused for a moment before moving out from behind Azumi and staring up in adoration of Ichigo. The Captain himself was struck by the strange fact that there were now _three_small children around him. It certainly wasn't what he had envisioned when he first became a Captain.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a timid voice. "Y-you're really him, Captain Ichigo! You're amazing!"

Ichigo was surprised by such a blunt statement but suppose he shouldn't be given that he was a child. He laughed and looked away, still slightly embarrassed about it.

"Well you don't hear that every day, but thanks kid. You know your sister is really helpful in the squad, I'm glad I have members like her." Azumi looked slightly uncomfortable at the praise but her brother practically glowed and beamed up at her.

"You are so awesome, sis! I told you that you should have gone for that higher position, see he would have let you." She smiled back at him but shook her head.

"Like I said, life isn't just about getting as high as you can, Ken'ichi. I'm happy where I am, besides I'm nowhere near as powerful as the current third seat." Despite her words he frowned back.

"But you're so powerful! I've seen you training, the third seat can't be that powerful." Azumi laughed openly at that and then pointed to Nel who was on Ichigo's shoulder.

"That's our third seat." Nel waved back at the boy, whose eyes widened.

"Her? But she looks younger than me..." He complained.

Rukia sighed, glancing to the side and noticing that at some point in the conversation Yachiru had vanished. Mentally shrugging, she decided to resolve the boys confusion. "Nel, show him your adult form."

The Arrancar nodded and jumped off, transforming mid air in an explosion of pink smoke. Ichigo noticed that it cleared faster than when she had transformed before, '_Maybe she is getting better at it?'._

The adult Nel blinked seemingly in surprise, then looked down at the awed little boy and smiled at him. "I'm afraid that I am not always a child, it is merely a form which I enjoy."

The boy just stared for a few moments before he tugged on his sisters shihakusho and spoke without taking his eyes off Nel.

"Sis, this place is the best. I am definitely becoming a shinigami." Azumi gave a soft smile, then crotched down next to him.

"Well maybe you should have a look around." Then she looked up at Ichigo. "Would you mind Captain? I need to go and help out some of our squad in Rukongai." She asked.

Ichigo shrugged and looked over to Rukia. "I don't think we've got anything else to do, right Rukia?"

His Lieutenant smirked and pushed herself up on her toes to whisper into his ear. "Well, I was hoping we could have some time together now that you're back...but I suppose we can't now." Ichigo suppressed a groan at that, forcing himself to remember that there were children present. Rukia reveled in his discomfort briefly before she continued.

"And you did have paperwork to catch up on, but you can do that after, instead of sleep I suppose."

Ichigo sighed, once more lamenting certain aspects of being a Captain. But he supposed it couldn't be helped and shrugged. "Well I suppose that can wait. C'mon Ken'ichi, we're going for a tour."

"Really?" His eyes sparkled with joy, but he didn't move, instead looking up at his sister.

Azumi chuckled and nodded back at him. "Don't worry, I won't be gone too long and I'm sure you will be safe here. Go on." With her final prompt he gave her a waist quick hug and ran forward to stand next to Ichigo.

Azumi gave him one more bow before leaving. Then the group of four turned back to the barracks. "Well" Ichigo said. "Let's get this started."

* * *

><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Well here's the chapter! Just a little lite relief before the next chapter...which leads us to my next point. **Temp-hiatus**, is now being imposed!

I know you may want this story to continue, and it will, but right now I want to relax more at home between revision and other things heh. Right now I need to plan out the rest of the story or risk completely loosing direction, already I'm floundering a bit on exactly how to get to where I want. So I'll keep writing chapters but at my own pace now with more planning haha. I've got my light novel to work on which takes up much more time than these chapters too.

I am very thankful for your support! And I will continue the story I promise! The next chapter is half done, but I don't know when you'll see it, it might be a month or two.

Oh and to clear up a misconception: Ichigo would be Yoruichi's cousin, once removed. A nephew is your siblings son, so please check your information before you comment on the work. Preferably keep your comments polite if you're going to heh.

Anyway, back on topic, thanks! Especially for the nearly (and I guess there will be over at some point, 1000 reviews :)) And **Hiatus.**I hope you paid attention because I won't be doing another chapter for this note, it would screw up my numbering :P


	48. I want you

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

* * *

><p>The tour didn't take as long as one would expect, mainly because the barracks had a lot of space which just did the same thing. Still it seemed as though Ken'ichi enjoyed the experience and asked questions when they entered his mind. Right now the boy was watching a few of the newer members train, Nel beside him to answer any of his questions.<p>

Ichigo watched them with a small smile on his face. He wasn't sure why, but after all the recent...drama, in his life. This was a welcome break.

"Shouldn't you be the one showing him the ropes?" Rukia asked, walking up next to him.

She had excused herself to do her own duties as Lieutenant, reminding Ichigo once more that he would not escape his mountain of paperwork.

He smirked shook his head. "Nah, I figure that if he wants to be a shinigami it's better for him to see someone who is making mistakes."

Rukia gave a mental smile at that, marvelling at how far he had come from when he had first been a Captain. Still, she gave a snort of amusement and looked over to the two shinigami who were fighting.

"Still, I think he would like to see his hero in action." She pointed out.

Ichigo gave a thoughtful nod and replied. "Don't worry, I'll give him a show before he leaves."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't let your ego get to big now you have met a fan, berry. And make sure you can control your power, he's just a normal soul with a bit of reiatsu at the moment."

Ichigo scowled and looked away. "It'll be fine. It's not like I'm going to go into bankai right now, I told you I have more control now."

"Right, I'm just making sure." She responded curtly, making him feel slightly bad for his outburst.

There was a silence between them, then Rukia broke it with a cough and looked away. "Ichigo...you know..."

He turned to look at her and was surprised to see her red faced and looking at the ground. She fidgeting with her hands before finally balling them into fists and turning to look at him, resolve burning in her eyes.

"Since Nel is keeping him entertained...we have some time alone." She trailed off suggestively.

Ichigo glanced over at where Nel was keeping Ken'ichi's attention on the fighting shinigami, then made his decision and smirked back at her. "What were you thinking?"

She grinned back at him, despite the blush on her cheeks and grabbed his hand, pulling him along as she flash-stepped through the compound to one of the barracks which she knew would be empty today.

How did she know? Because she had sent that part of the squad off on a training mission last night when Ichigo had fallen asleep.

She searched for any reiatsu just in case and found none to her delight. Ichigo closed the door to this section behind him, knowing that any unwelcome interruption would be...troublesome. Once that was done he turned, and instantly found that Rukia was snaking one arm around him and entwining the other in his hair.

Their eyes met, seconds later their lips met in an explosion of pent up emotion. Rukia pulled Ichigo's head down and he was more than happy to accept her, encircling her small waist with his own arms.

They wanted to be closer, needed to be closer.

Rukia moaned into his mouth and clenched her hand in his hair, her mind reliving every fantasy she had at the same time. Then they were all gone and Ichigo was everything, his hair his touch, his tongue caressing hers in a sensual dance.

Ichigo was faring no better, his body aching for the soft touch of Rukia's skin. His wish was granted when he suddenly felt a shift in weight as Rukia jumped up and wrapped her limbs around him. He grinned into their kiss, moving his hands to support her at the same time, bringing her flush against his body.

Their lips finally parted for air, a thin trail of saliva connecting them for a moment before it snapped and the two of them were separate once again. The sound of heavy breathing permeated the room as the two officers stared at each other, Ichigo breaking out into a grin.

"If we want to continue this, maybe we should go somewhere more comfortable." He suggested, too caught up in the moment to be shy this time.

Rukia's face was flushed red, she didn't know if it was from his suggestion or their...activities. Either way it wasn't her first concern as she nodded and felt them move moments later.

Ichigo was flash-stepping as quickly as he could, not giving anyone time to see them as he moved through the halls to his office, his mind focused only on doing that. They arrived quickly, Ichigo slipping through his door and closing it behind him. He moved to kiss Rukia again, but she stopped him with a finger on his lips and he looked at her pleadingly.

"Wait, Ichigo." She said softly, ignoring his growl as she pulled away from him, only going as far as the closed door beside them.

She held out her hand and concentrated for a moment, which was difficult considering who was standing behind her, but she managed it and the door glowed with a soft blue light, which then faded.

Rukia turned back to him, a coy smile on her face. "Now no one can interrupt us."

Ichigo grinned back, on her in an instant, mouths connected once again and hands roaming over each other's bodies.

Neither knew when, but somehow Rukia found herself falling back onto Ichigo's bed, the soft mattress cushioning her fall. Then Ichigo was back upon her andshe decided to take matters into her own hands, rolling them over so she was on top of her Captain.

Ichigo didn't care, in fact he shuddered at the sensation of her small body straddling his waist. Her small, delicate hands, almost pawing at his shihakusho in want. No, need. Finally she broke through, slipping her hands under his robe and reaching the tensedmuscle beneath. Ichigo gasped into her mouth as she ran a hand down his back, nails scratching into his tanned skin in an effort to pull the Captain closer.

He fought back, his own hands searching for their prize amongst the black and white cloth that covered her. Finally he found a gap, his hand surging forward and touching her soft, pale skin. She responded with her own gasp, his touch burning her as his hand trailed around her stomach towards her back.

"Ichi-" Rukia gasped, lifting her head to breathe and stare at his handsome face. He looked back, her own face was red and her eyes alive with desire.

Then she moved, rocking forward on his waist, all too aware of his arousal pressing against her sex, which was growing damper. And it definitely wasn't withsweat.

"God...Rukia." Ichigo groaned, his senses being assaulted from every angle by Rukia, everything about her.

His hand move up further, trailing around again to the front of her chest and touching on her breast.

Rukia's eyes widened when she felt his hand, her body freezing at the sudden and growing influx of pleasure, heating her core and making her moan out loud. Ichigo heard this and noticed her lack ofother movement**. **Takingthis as a cue, he changed their roles yet again by flipping them over.

Her shihakusho fell open from their previous actions, her bare chest open to Ichigo's lustful gaze. Suddenly she was aware of their situation and felt embarrassed by her actions, curling up slightly and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I-Ichigo, we shouldn't, we..." She started, looking away timidly.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow despite his hormones raging at him to continue. What had caused this sudden change in her demeanour, from...well, sex kitten to a timid little girl? She shifted her head and closed her eyes and it clicked in his mind.

She didn't want to see his reaction, now that she was bared to him. Indeed it was the first time that he had seen her topless so he could understand some hesitation...but this?

"Rukia..." He said softly, but got no response.

So he leant down and cupped her face, making her look back at him. When he saw her violet eyes, he smiled at her.

"Just relax..." He said, moving down to her chest.

Despite what he had said, Ichigo's heart was throbbing and his mind was screaming at him that he was doing something wrong. But he pushed that aside and let his lips gently craze her skin.

She let out a gasp as she felt his soft lips move up her breast towards her nipple. His breath was driving her crazy as it tickled the edge of it, forcing her insecurities out of her mind with a wave of pleasure.

Then his tongue was on it and his teeth were grazing the sensitive nub.

"Ichigo!" She shouted, the sensation unlike anything she had experienced before.

He continued to pleasure her as her lithe hands ran down his body, gently scratching at the hard muscle on his body. Ichigo gasped as he felt her hand dip below his navel, making her look down at him with eye full of lust.

She slowly ran her hands up his hard shaft, biting her lip and closing her hand around it slowly. Ichigo groaned in pleasure as she started moving her hand slowly, then he redoubled his efforts on her modest breasts. Soon the room was full of their soft moans of pleasure, all the time the two of them continued to explore the other'sbody inany way they could.

Suddenly, Rukia was aware of the heat building in her core, it was a tension that needed to be unwound. Faltering, she stopped and pushed back, scooting away from Ichigo on the bed.

"Rukia..." Ichigo half groaned, mourning the lack of contact. He looked up to see her own flustered face and frowned.

"What-" He started, but she cut him off shakily.

"It's not you, Ichigo...but we can't go any farther." She took a deep breath, then looked up at him. "I don't want to risk the clan finding out before the marriage, and if we were to do any more..." She trailed off, her blush increasing.

Ichigo sighed and pushed himself up. "You're right, I don't think I'd be able to hold back." He frowned and wrapped his discarded shihakusho around his waist haphazardly.

She looked apologetically at the prominent bulge and he shifted uncomfortably before he stood.

"W-well, I'm going to go and have, eh, a shower." Ichigo mumbled, simply wanting to relieve the pressure that was all too prominent.

Rukia nodded mutely and fell back onto the bed, exhaling in an attempt to do the same thing while thinking to herself. If this engagement was any longer, they might not make it to the end.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo!" Nel called out, an excited Ken'ichi practically bouncing around as they searched around the barracks.<p>

The Arrancar had decided that Ken'ichi had waited long enough to see Ichigo showoff, it wasn't like her Captain had any qualms about showing a bit of power most of the time. She frowned as she searched for his reiatsu but couldn't find it.

But both he and Rukia were suppressing it.

She pouted, knowing that the two of them were likely up to...fun things. Before she had more time to contemplate that topic, she noticed another presence approaching her swiftly.

Nel had just turned to see the Captain of the sixth squad appear before her.

"3rd seat Kurosaki, and..." He questioned, looking down at the small boy who was returning his gaze.

Nel gave a small bow and put her hand on Ken'ichi's head. "Greetings, Captain Kuchiki, this is Ken'ichi and I am showing him around the barracks today."

Byakuya nodded and looked back up at Nel.

"Very well. However, my reason for being here concerns your Captain, where can I find him?"

Her cheeks instantly flushed red as she thought of what they could be doing right now and she shook her head stiffly. "I-uh, no." She responded simply.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed as he noticed her red tinted cheeks. He searched out for Rukia's reiatsu signature, going over as much of the barracks as he could in as much detail as he could.

Then he found it.

He looked at the pair coldly and dipped his head stiffly. "I have located them, farewell."

Nel watched him go, then the ramifications of that person in particular finding the pair hit her with full force. She cringed, then looked down at Ken'ichi and gave him a quick smile.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to move quickly." She said and picked him up in order to move quicker.

He frowned in confusion, but her meaningwas apparent when she took off in a burst of sonido.

Rukia felt a cold shiver run down her spine and she frowned.

That was all the warning she had before the door burst open, her kido shattering. The Lieutenant was on her feet within moments, a sheet around her and her blade in her hand in preparation to fight of, or unleash some stress, on whoever had decided to blow open a Captain's door.

She froze when her brothers form appeared from behind the cloud of smoke.

"N-Nii-sama." She stuttered, her mind drawing a blank.

He looked down at her coldly, then gave a small sigh.

"Leave, Rukia. I need to speak with Kurosaki in private." She looked back at the door which Ichigo was no doubt cowering behind, then nodded. She didn't think he was in any danger of being hurt this time, her brother seemed to have ulterior motives.

She caught sight of Nel appearing just down the corridor and was surprised to see that the blushing Arrancar had a shihakusho in her hands.

She silently thanked Nel as the girl threw her the clothes and she caught it in mid-air, vanishing in a burst of shunpo to escape further embarrassment.

Byakuya watched her leave and ground his teeth in irritation. He knew that this sort of thing was going to happen sooner or later, in some respects it was cruel to put a teenage boy and a sexually inexperienced girl together for long periods of time and expect nothing to happen.

'I'll deal with that later,' He thought gloomily. He had just been informed of some rather disturbing news by an all too cheerful werecat.

"Kurosaki, if you are decent then come out. I don't wish to idle here too long...we'll talk about your actions with my sister at a later date." His voice left no room for argument. They would talk about it at some point.

He heard a mumbled curse from the other side of the door and the sound of something falling over. Moments later Ichigo emerged from the room, his hair damp and his shihakusho looking as though it had been put on quickly. The younger Captain grunted at Byakuya and moved over to the bed to pick up his haori. Once it was in place he turned back to the noble, more confident now that he wasn't in danger of imminent death.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure." Ichigo drawled, trying to diffuse the tension in the room.

Byakuya got straight to the point.

"I was informed today, by lady Shihoin, that you have been selected to be the next head of the Shihoin clan."

Ichigo let himself smirk and nodded. "Yup, it turns out I'm related to Yoruichi, so I'm in the right position to take over the clan. She seems to think that I'm right for the job and I figured that I may as well."

Byakuya twitched at his casual tone when he had been given such a great honour.

He opened his mouth to object, but Ichigo's face hardened and he held his hand up to stop the noble. "Before you object, I have thought about this. Yoruichi will be assisting him and my...child (Ichigo gave a cough of embarrassment) will be given the option of taking over the stealth corps."

Silence followed as Byakuya considered his words.

"You understand the responsibility that comes with this role, Kurosaki?" He said simply looking Ichigo in the eye.

"I won't let Yoruichi down." Ichigo replied, making Byakuya sigh internally.

There was no escaping it then.

His face hardened and he turned away from the younger man. "If that is your choice, then so be it."

He left without another word, the day had tested his patience to the limit.

A familiar reiatsu exploded onto his senses and he changed direction towards the eleventh squad's barracks, drawing his sword as he went.

Kenpachi was in for a fun day.

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><p><em>Beta'd by .lyingtoungesareclumsy.<em>

(A/N) Right, it's been a while. I have to say that this does not mean a return to my old schedule, sorry about that. It's more that I will update when and if I feel like it, but I don't want this story to be over just yet, haha.

Thank you for all your support! I really appreciate the reviews.

On a personal note, I'm on chapter 6 of my light novel (I'm lazy and write slowly) and I have no idea on my results. I live in hope, but can only wait until next month to find out of I'm screwed or not ehe.

Thank you again :)


	49. ChildminderTaichou By Tenshot

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. 

A thunderous crash at the 11th squad's barracks sounded the start of the day as the spiky haired captain let out a deep laugh. "Come on Ikkaku! You'll have to hit me a lot harder than that if you want to draw blood!"

Ikkaku smirked at his captain and bashed the hilt of his sword to the end of it's sheathe.

"Extend, Hozikimaru!" he screamed as he leaped up into the air and thrust his Zanpakuto down towards Kenpachi's right shoulder.

Expecting this, the Captain raised his sword up horizontally in time to block the attack. What he didn't expect was how much force Ikkaku had put into his strike, causing his feet to be forced into the ground and air to explode out around them. Zaraki gave a wicked grin as he flung his blade outwards and sent Ikkaku flying through the air.

The bald-headed third seat twisted around mid-air, landing with both feet on the wall that Kenpachi expected him to be thrown through. Gathering reiatsu around his feet, Ikkaku pushed off of the wall, causing it to cave in slightly as he charged at Kenpachi.

Zaraki quickly moved his blade over to the left in order to block the attack, but he didn't apply enough force behind his block and Ikkaku's spear-shaped Zanpakuto grazed the very top of his left shoulder, drawing a small amount of blood.

The captain's grin widened even more as Ikkaku plunged his spear into the ground, causing him to pole-vault upwards with it, landing on top of a nearby roof.

"Hows that shoulder Captain? It looks a bit bloody!" Ikkaku yelled down.

Zaraki pointed to the slight wound and yelled back, "What, this? I couldn't tell if I was hit by your blade or if a tiny bug just bit me!"

Ikkaku smirked and readied his Zanpakuto for another strike, when he suddenly felt a massive spiritual pressure closing in on them at an incredible speed.

"Captain, is that who I think it is?" The bald man asked.

Kenpachi's grin grew to a frightening size as the source of the vast reiatsu suddenly appeared next to him.

"I have come to spar, Kenpachi Zaraki" said the Captain, with a carefully blank face..

"Ah Kuchiki, did you finally decide to get out of that pretty mansion in order to practice with that feminine sword of yours?" Zaraki asked in a taunting tone.

"Hisana doesn't like it when I shred Kurosaki to pieces with it, so I figured that you would be up to the challenge." Byakuya responded coolly.

"You're on Kuchiki!" Kenpachi roared.

The two captains slammed their blades against each other, causing and immense blast of spiritual pressure to explode outward, knocking Ikkaku off balance.

"All right, I get front row seats!" the bald man thought to himself.

Byakuya used his mastery of shunpo to his advantage, striking from every possible angle in a matter of seconds. Kenpachi struggled to block the intense flurry of attacks. He grunted as one of them was able to slip by, slicing him across his right forearm. "Come on Kuchiki, you can do better than that!" Zaraki taunted as he managed to punch Byakuya in the gut, sending him flying upwards.

"Very well, if you insist." said Byakuya in mid-air, holding out his hand. "Hado Number Thirty-two, Okasen."

An incredible blast of yellow energy came speeding out of Byakuya's palm and crashed down towards Zaraki. The spiky haired captain frowned as he jumped up and carved the energy in half with his sword, causing two large explosions beneath him.

"Come on, at least Kurosaki has the guts to fight me face to..." he was cut off as Byakuya used an impressive flesh step to appear right in front of him and slash him across the chest, drawing more blood.

"You were saying?" Byakuya taunted

Zaraki let out a howl of laughter. "Good, thats it Kuchiki! Now stay still!"

His sword came screaming down towards Byakuya's own chest, the nobleman raised his sword above him horizontally to block the vastly powerful strike but it was clearly in vain as he went crashing into the ground at a dizzying speed.

Byakuya groaned as he looked up and saw Kenpachi barreling down towards him, laughing loudly. He smirked and held up his sword.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." 

* * *

><p>Ichigo sighed as he leaned back into his chair, still slightly worked up by his...encounter with the two Kuchiki's. He was exhausted from his vast lack of sleep but was defiantly in a good mood. With a slight smile on his face, Ichigo closed his eyes and dozed off.<p>

"Can we see your dad now?" asked Ken'ichi in an excited tone. Nel smiled, she found it heartwarming that he called Ichigo her dad instead of 'Captain Kurosaki'.

"Sure, let's go!"

Nel darted towards Ichigo's room with Ken'ichi firmly in her arms.

"I hope Captain Kuchiki didn't slice him up again, I hate it when he does that." Nel thought to herself as she sped towards Ichigo. She instantly arrived in front of his door by using a quick sonido. She gave a soft smile when she saw that he was relaxing in his chair with no injuries.

"Hey Nel, how did the tour go?" Ichigo asked with his eyes still closed and a noticeable smile on his face.

Nel started to answer but Ken'ichi beat her to it. "It was awesome! Nel showed me everything and I decided that I want to be just like you when I grow up Captain!" Nel's smile grew larger, she was so proud to have Ichigo as a father.

Ichigo grinned and walked over to the small boy, ruffling his hair with his hand. "Is that so?"

"Yup! You're my favorite shinigami besides my sister!" expressed Ken'ichi with a colossal grin on his face.

"And just when I thought your ego couldn't get any bigger." said Rukia as she flash stepped beside Nel with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"Shut it you, you're just jealous of all my adoring fans!" exclaimed Ichigo with a small grin.

Rukia jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, "Well mister hero, he'll have to leave soon, so do you want to give him something to keep him going?"

Ichigo smirked, "Alright then, are you ready to see something cool, Ken'ichi?"

The boy beamed back up at him and replied, "Yeah! Let's go!"

Ichigo picked the boy up and put him on his right shoulder. "Alright girls, keep up if you can!"

Ichigo took off at an incredible speed, pushing his shunpo to it's limit, the two girls following behind him.

He flew past the 11th squad barracks and was surprised to see Kenpachi and Byakuya fighting each other, both of them were covered in dirt and a decent amount of blood.

'_I think I'm just going to stay out of that one'_ He thought, much to his hollow's chagrin.

"Slow down you idiot! The boy could fly off of your shoulder!" Rukia screamed at her captain.

Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see Ken'ichi with an enormous smile on his face. "Faster, faster, faster!" the boy yelled as the skin on his face was smushed against the wind.

Ichigo grinned, "Alright, hold on tight! This is gonna get crazy!"

The orange haired captain suddenly stopped at the bottom of Sokyoku Hill and summoned an incredible amount of reiatsu around his feet and legs, causing it to turn from blue to black. Rukia finally managed to catch up, breathing heavily.

"Ichigo! What the hell are you..." She started, but was interrupted as Ichigo released the vast reiatsu, sending the two girls flying backwards several yards and rocketing himself up to the top of the hill, covering a distance of about a thousand feet in just a couple of seconds.

Ken'ichi had a vice grip on the captain's haori, but it wasn't enough.

He started to fall with the huge smile on his face slightly fading away. Ichigo quickly grabbed the boy up in his arms and in the blink of an eye, they were at the top outer edge of the massive hill. Ichigo sat the boy down on the ground and grinned, "How's that for fast?"

Ken'ichi fell over dizzy in response, but with a huge smile on his face "It...was..awesome!"

Ichigo turned around just in time to get punch in the gut by a very agitated Rukia. "What the hell was that you idiot? You could've killed him going so fast!"

The captain stood back up straight and smirked, scratching the back of his hair with his hand. "Nah, look at the little guy, he had a blast."

Rukia gazed over at the little boy who had now fallen on his back, looking up at the sky with an amused but dazed look on his face.

By this time Nel had caught up to them and let out a huge sigh of relief. The Espada scrunched her nose a little when she looked at the two shinigami, Sonido had never been her strong point.

When her eyes landed on the young boy She went over to him and picked him up, "Okay, I think he's had enough fun for today dad. Azumi is gonna be mad if he gets any more disoriented."

Hearing that the fun was apparently already over, Ken'ichi protested. "Aw come on, can we at least do one more thing? It doesn't have to be going fast again."

Unable to resist the kid's disappointed look, Ichigo sighed and started walking away from them. "Alright, I guess I've gotta end this little show with a bang eh?"

Rukia started to protest when Ichigo held up his hand. "Don't worry, he's not gonna be in any danger, just make sure you both shield him with your reiatsu and he'll be fine."

The two girls looked at each other slightly confused but did as he asked.

"Alright Ichigo, just make this quick, you're not getting out of your paperwork so easily." said Rukia in a stern tone.

Ichigo scowled for a brief moment before unsheathing Zangetsu from his back. The Zanpakuto's voice filled the captain's head, _"Ichigo, must you use my power like this?."_

Ichigo heard his hollow snicker before he answered, _"Relax Zangetsu, I'm not even go into shikai, I just want to see how high I can push our reiatsu without unsealing you."_

He paused for a moment and said, _"But I want both of you to raise your reiatsu in perfect sync with me. Let's give Ken'ichi a good show."_

Shirosaki laughed, _**"All right King, I'll go along with your little show. Just make sure you can keep up."**_

Zangetsu just sighed and replied, _"Very well, I don't really see the point in all of this but I'll do as you ask."_

Ichigo smirked and positioned his sword in front of him in his classic stance that he used to use to go bankai. "All right guys, here we go."

Rukia saw him enter into his bankai stance and cried out, "Wait Ichigo! Don't..." she was once again interrupted as an insane amount of reiatsu began pouring out of her captain.

A torrent of black and red energy began to swirl around Ichigo at an intense speed. It expanded around him in a fifty foot radius and continued to grow. Nel positioned herself between his reiatsu and Rukia. "Don't worry, mother, I'll help him out if it gets out of control again."

Rukia started to reply when Ichigo's black energy suddenly stopped expanding outwards and shot upwards with a gigantic roar, forming a small skyscraper of pure reiatsu. It held there for several seconds before the energy started to pull back inwards towards Ichigo, who had slowly started to raise Zangetsu straight up into the air above him. Once Zangetsu was directly above him, the black and red energy turned black with a blue outline. Rukia and Nel both gasped as they looked into his eyes, his right one was glowing blue and his left was black with a yellow iris.

Rukia's eyes widened as she could see the roots of Ichigo's hair start to turn black, which caused her heart to race with fear._ 'What do I do? He's gonna lose control again!'_Rukia thought to herself, panicking.

"Ichigo, stop it." Nel called out, well aware of the situation and that Ichigo still wanted to use this for the Captain's tornument.

Then, with a flick of his sword, the energy was gone. Much to the relief of Rukia, he opened his eyes which were both back to his normal amber color. He sheathed Zangetsu and silently thanked his sword and Shirosaki for their help. With a goofy grin carved into his face, Ichigo walked back towards Ken'ichi and got a drop kick to the face.

"What the hell, midget!" exclaimed Ichigo.

Rukia glared at him."What if you lost control again?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to retort when he caught himself and instead decided to smile. He pulled Rukia in and kissed her, holding her gently. She blushed slightly and returned the kiss before stepping back from him, looking down at the ground. Ichigo looked over to Nel who gave him a small smile.

Ichigo recovered his breath and walked over to Ken'ichi, who's mouth was still open in astonishment. "So what did you think of that Ken'ichi?"

That was the coolest thing I have ever seen! How did you do that Captain?" asked the boy.

Ichigo smirked and replied, "With a lot of practice and training. Those are two things that you really need if you want to be a shinigami."

Rukia rolled her eyes in embarrassment, he could be so cheesy sometimes.

"But above all else you need a motivation to make you excel at being a shinigami." Ichigo finished.

Ken'ichi nodded and asked, "So whats your motivation Captain, I wanna be like you."

Ichigo took a quick glance at Rukia and Nel before answering, "My motivation? Well that's simple, I use my powers to protect the people that I love."

Ken'ichi nodded once more "Alright then, I'll become a shinigami to do the same thing! Thanks so much Captain!"

Ichigo knelt down and ruffled the boy's hair, "Tell you what, look after your sister and if you work hard, I'll let you into my squad when you've passed the Shinigami Academy."

Ken'ichi's face glowed in excitement. "Really? You'd let me join your squad?"

Ichigo looked back at Rukia who nodded while she was trying (and failing) to hide a big smile.

"You bet, but remember you'll have to work hard and protect the ones close to you."

Ken'ichi hugged Ichigo which put a grin on the captain's face. Nel also transformed back into her child form and threw her self at Ichigo, big watery tears and snot falling down her face. "Nel is so happy to have Itsigo as her dad!"

The captain laughed and said "Yeah, I love you too Nel. Now we should probably head back to the barracks before Azumi comes back." He put the two children on his shoulders and turned to Rukia who was no longer holding back her smile.

"Alright Rukia, I've got an offer for you."

Rukia playfully raised her eyebrows, "Oh yeah, and what would that be _Captain_?"

Ichigo pointed in the general direction of squad five's barracks, "We're gonna race back to my office and if I lose, I'll do every bit of my paperwork without complaining, but if I win..." he gave her a funny grin "If I win you have to give me a kiss and let me go to sleep."

Rukia rolled her eyes, "You should do the paperwork anyway, but if you insist."

They both took off using flash step at the same time, moving as fast as they could. They blazed past squad 11's barracks once more to see Byakuya and Kenpachi sitting down, exhausted. Kenpachi pointed up to the pair,

"Well would you look at that Kuchiki, looks like the love birds are at it again."

Byakuya just sighed with a scowl on his face. "All right Captain Zaraki, time for round two."

Ichigo became distracted for a brief second as he heard yet another thundering clash below him. Rukia immediately took advantage of this and mustered as much reiatsu as she could, executing a maneuver that would impress even her brother. She quickly flash stepped behind Ichigo, grabbed up the two children from his shoulders, flash stepped in front of him and held out her right index finger.

"Bakudo Number Sixty-One, Rikujokoro!"

Ichigo had a stunned expression on his face as six, man sized rectangles of glowing, yellow energy slammed into his torso forming a circle, locking his arms in place and sending him plummeting to the ground. Rukia smiled as she heard him call out "Damn...it...midget!"

"I'll be waiting with the paperwork at your office!" she yelled as he fell down. Ichigo slammed into the ground hard, right in the middle of two very amused looking captains.

"Well Ichigo, if you're done showing off then maybe you'd like to put your skills to the test against the both of us!"

A slightly dazed Ichigo looked up to see a creepy looking Zaraki and a stern looking Byakuya. "Oh...uh...hey." Ichigo said in a worried tone.

Byakuya held out his sword in a stance that Ichigo had become far too familiar with. "This is for your actions with my sister earlier this morning. Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Ichigo sighed, _'Paperwork sounds pretty good right about now.'_ he thought to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>Written by Tenshot<strong>

(Edited by me)

(A/N) As you can see, I didn't actually write this chapter. It was written by Tenshot, who sent them too me because he liked the fic, so thank him. I just edited them and shifted the format around a lot.

I suppose some of you might find this irritating or a number of other things. Bad for lack of a better word, that I have updated with a chapter written by someone else. But at the end of the day the reason I find this story hard to write atm is that it's in an annoying section between the plot points, so it's basically all filler :/

Now, there is one more chapter written by Tenshot, then chapter 51 will be the start of the tournament which will mark the end of this story. Yes I have more idea's, but I'm afraid I just don't want to add another 20 or so chapters onto this story that I'm already finding difficult to write. I fear the quality would dip too much .

That's this end of this entirely too long A/N, but I hope you recognize that this is an important one. Please review as always and specifically I hope you will direct feedback on the chapter too him.


	50. Chase me

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

By the time Ichigo got back, he was worn out and ragged from the fighting. His clothes were ripped all over from some very angry petal leaves and he had one too many cuts on his body for his liking.

"Stupid Byakuya." He mumbled to himself, trudging through his own barracks.

In the end, he had to use bankai to fight the two of them, though both his spirits had agreed to hold back their power to his older bankai levels. Which lead to a tricky fight and ended with Kenpachi complaining that he wasn't as strong as he expected.

To top it all off his haori had been obliterated by his future brother-in-law.

He was sure that somewhere inside, the noble was feeling smug.

Finally, he reached the door to his office and pushed it open wearily, calling out in a tired voice as he did so.

"I'm home."

His response came in the form of a bear-hug.

Between the large _chest_suffocating him and his own dulled senses he just managed to make out the end of what he presumed was Nel's 'welcome home'.

"...and we were so worried about you!"

"We?" Another voice scoffed.

Ichigo stopped flailing and scowled at Rukia's words. Nel, thinking that he had accepted her hug, started to relax her arms, giving him the perfect opportunity to break free of them.

She pouted, but he ignored her for the time being and eyed Rukia.

"You should be, I was assaulted by my colleagues." He argued, making her raise an eyebrow.

"I would have thought you'd expect this by now, Ichigo."

He crossed his arms and grumbled. "I bet this doesn't happen to Ishida in his job."

Rukia walked up to him and pulled him into her arms.

"But his job doesn't come with other benefits." She replied, making him scoff lightly.

"Like wha-"

She cut him off by pulling him down for a deep kiss. The irritation he held towards her for getting him into that fight melted away at her soft touch, gentle hands running over his tattered shihakusho and brushing against the cuts and welts beneath it. It lasted for a few moments longer before they both pulled away, slightly breathless.

"Like that." Rukia Breathed, getting a small smile from Ichigo.

"I suppose that is a plus." He responded with faux nonchalance.

She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm lightly.

The Captain just grinned wider and pulled away from her, turning attention to Nel, who looked away. She had been...watching the couple and wasn't about to admit that to him.

Luckily he didn't noticed her slightly flushed cheeks and surprised her by pulling her into a hug of her own.

"Thanks for worrying Nel, but you know I'll always protect you when you need it. Besides, Rukia wouldn't let me die, you know how she is." He joked.

"Idiot." Rukia muttered but with a gentle smile on her face.

Nel could feel her heartbeat pick up slightly because of his close proximity, but had more pressing thoughts on her mind. The warmth, the love she felt from her adopted mother and father, from Ichigo and Rukia. It had never been more pronounced to her than a this moment. It was overwhelming, to have someone so strong, so kind look after her.

She was a hollow.

She had eaten souls to get where she was now, and he...he had sacrificed everything. His own life was something which served as a shield to others time and time again.

And she was here, in his arms. He wasn't pushing her away, like he should be. He wasn't taking her life, like he never could.

He was holding her like she was precious.

Even Rukia, his lover, looked at her with a warmth in her eyes that she could feel inside her. Despite the fact she _loved_Ichigo, despite Rukia being taught to be a shinigami in the strictest sense. Her mentor had lost his life to a hollow. Her idol, his wife, had lost her life to the same hollow.

Ichigo almost lost his life to his own inner hollow.

But she cared.

She _cared._

So, Nelliel tu Kurosaki: one of the more intelligent Arrancar and better strategists of the old Espada did something she had never done in her adult form before.

She cried.

Ichigo felt her arms tightening around him and the slight shaking of her shoulders and looked down, alarmed.

"Nel..." He said with a start, looking over to Rukia for help.

She frowned and walked over, putting a hand on the Arrancar's shoulder.

"Idiot, what did you do?" She accused, internally wondering if that kiss had somehow been too much for the Arrancar to watch, given her feelings.

Ichigo glared back at her. "Oi! I didn't do anything, midget, one moment she was fine, then..."

Gentle giggling stopped him and he looked down to see that it was Nel making the noise. He looked confused, until she raised his head and looked at him, her eyes still with a film of tears over them.

"But you did do something...I'm crying because I'm so happy." She said with a smile, surprising the two of them.

"Nel." Rukia said simply and tightened her grip on the Arrancar's shoulder.

Nel turned slightly to look at her and Rukia was surprised to see the emotions practically bursting out of the older woman's eyes.

"You know what my life was like. I have done bad things, but only once I regained consciousness as a hollow could I even tell that they were bad, not that that's much of an excuse. But you...you are here, and you don't care about that." She said softly, despite the tears still in her eyes.

Ichigo smiled down at her and pulled her into a tighter hug. She berried her face into his neck and he raised a hand up to her head, running it soothingly through her hair and touching the bone on her head lightly.

"No, we don't. And we'll always be here." He said softly, with a glance towards Rukia.

She nodded in agreement and rubbed Nel's back gently. "That's right, it doesn't matter what happens, if we have more children or anything like that. You will always have a home with us."

Nel finally pulled away and smiled at the two of them, wiping her eyes with the long arm of her shihakusho.

"Haha, if the Espada could see me now." She joked lightly, getting a chuckle from the Shinigami.

"Well, you've still got Harribel and Grimmjow now." Ichigo pointed out, before correcting himself. "But I'm not hugging Grimmjow."

Nell giggled and laughed harder when Rukia corrected him.

"Harribel neither, one busty woman hugging you is quite enough."

"Aww, someone is jealous." Ichigo smirked, getting a well deserved smack on the head from his smaller Lieutenant.

"Ahh, well you have me, ne, Ichi?" Nel Grinned, going to pull him into another of her bone crushing hugs. However, this time Ichigo dodged out of the way.

"Not when I'm wounded." He pointed out.

One thing that he failed to notice in his haste to move out of the Arrancar's way was that he had stepped closer to his own desk. Rukia, however did notice and let a sly grin form on her face.

"Ah, good to see you getting to work..." She said, getting a confused look from him.

In response, she nodded to the desk and watched, amused as his eyes widened. The desk was groaning with stacks upon stacks of paperwork, leaving him precious little space to actually work on. Rukia happily added the final nail to his coffin by walking over to a cabinet and pulling a form out of it, resting it on the top of one of the piles.

"Wha-" Ichigo gaped.

Rukia feigned innocence and gestured to the paper. "That is the requisition form for a new haori, and this," She waved at the paperwork. "is what you get for loosing a race against your _Lieutenant.'_

"Can't you-"

"Nope." She cut him off again, already walking towards the door. "I've got some business to do, so have fun.

"Yeah..." He said, unenthusiastically. Nothing he said at this point would save him from either the paperwork or the laughing of his inner hollow.

Rukia stopped just be fore she left and smiled at Nel. "Make sure he stays here will you?"

The Arrancar nodded.

"Be safe, Mother." She said, getting a smile in response as Rukia left.

Which left her alone with Ichigo and a mountain of paperwork.

* * *

><p>Freezing cold once again filled the air in and around the secret cavern that both Ichigo and Renji used to achieve their bankai. A slightly out of breath Sode no Shirayuki flung her sword outwards with both hands, sending Rukia crashing into a nearby rock formation.<p>

"You've gotten stronger Rukia, there's no doubt about that, but you're still a ways off from unlocking bankai." said the beautiful Zanpakuto.

She was truly surprised at how fast Rukia was advancing, they had been fighting for over an hour and her master had forced her to spend a considerable amount of reiatsu. Rukia breathed heavily as she forced herself out from the rubble.

She plunged her sword into the ground next to her and gathered every bit of reiatsu that she could muster without de-materializing her Zanpakuto. Sode no Shirayuki raised her sword to her side.

"Some no mai, Tsu..."

"Rikujokoro!" yelled a determined Rukia, with her right index finger pointed at the woman in white.

Sode no Shirayuki scowled slightly as six huge yellow rectangles slammed into her, paralyzing her whole body. She began to greatly raise her reiatsu in order to break the binding spell but Rukia was two steps ahead of her.

The black haired woman opened up her hand in a 'stop' gesture and yelled "Bakudo Number Sixty-three, Sajo Sabaku!".

Sode no Shirayuki's scowl deepened as multiple bright, yellow chains of pure energy surrounded her body almost instantly, weaving in and out of the six rectangles that already bounded her in place and constricted tightly around her torso.

'_This is it, all or nothing_.' Rukia thought to herself as she held out both of her hands, putting one palm on top of the other while simultaneously extending her fingers outward on each hand. Sode no Shirayuki's eyes widened at the sight, she was all too familiar with the devastating kido that she was about to unleash.

" Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus! In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens! Hado Number Seventy Three! Soren Sokatsui!"

Shirayuki gasped as an enormous amount of blue energy formed around Rukia's hands and blasted outwards towards her.

The Zanpakuto watched with an unperturbed expression as the wall of energy approached her. Only at the last second did she speak softly as the energy engulfed her.

Even Rukia was shocked at the magnitude of it as she was thrown back against the rock formation by the force of the blast.

Once the reiatsu had died down enough, Rukia summoned the strength to get out of the rubble once more. She grabbed her sword and stabbed it into the ground in front of her as Ichigo often did with Zangetsu when he was exhausted.

She leaned against it, looking down and breathing heavily, cold sweat dripping down her chin. Rukia looked up and gasped at what she saw, Sode no Shirayuki standing before her. "How did...you...withstand...that?" Rukia asked, panting.

The elegant Zanpakuto gave a small smile, almost wincing at the pain it caused her, but managed to remain composed despite that. Her Kimono was torn up the arms with stingng burns running up her arms where the blast had broken through her defense.

She looked back and spoke, breathing heavily despite her appearance.

"I...used Tsukishiro...on myself...right..before...the blast hit." she answered in the same, exhausted tone.

"I see...you...formed a...shield of ice...to mitigate...the damage." stated Rukia. Sode no Shirayuki nodded as Rukia continued. "Alright, then..I guess...it's a tie."

Her Zanpakuto smirked "Not quite, Rukia." she said, holding up her hand. Rukia groaned as her legs became encased in ice up to her knees. The elegant Zanpakuto lifted up her sword, pointing it at Rukia's chest.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" she yelled as a blast of snow and ice came out of her sword's tip, roaring towards an immobile Rukia. The small but determined shinigami raised her reiatsu as high as she could around her, trying to form a makeshift dampening shield of energy.

Rukia was stunned as the large blast of snow and ice stopped just inches in front of her face and solidified into rock hard ice before it started to break apart. She glanced over at her Zanpakuto, who had am approving smile on her face as she de-materialized.

"I look forward to our next session, Rukia." Sode no Shirayuki said, just before completely vanishing along with the ice around Rukia's legs.

The exhausted shinigami collapsed back against the nearby rubble, leaning her back against it and tilting her head up to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and analyzed the battle that she just had, looking for flaws on both sides. Her mind raced through the various decisions that she made throughout the battle, approving of some but criticizing more.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a familiar voice.

"Wow, your bankai training is so much more fun to watch than Ichigo's was."

Rukia glanced over at the entrance of the cavern to see an amused looking Yoruichi looking at her with her arms crossed.

"Yoruichi? What are you doing here if you don't mind me asking?" questioned a puzzled Rukia. The goddess of flash shunpo'd beside her and sat back against the rubble next to Rukia.

Her display of speed always deeply impressed Rukia, after all, not even her Nii-sama could keep up with her.

"Well with the captain's tournament looming on the horizon, Kisuke and I figured we could help you out with some training." declared the purple haired woman. Rukia's eyes widened in surprise.

"Training? Please don't take this as offensive, I hold you two in very high regard, but why would you want to train me?" asked Rukia.

Yoruichi gave Rukia a big smile and place her left arm around the small, but cute looking woman. "Oh that's simple, we're training you for two very distinct reasons. One, you're our protege's girl, or he's _your_ man, so I'd love to see the look on his face when you whoop his ass in the tournament and two." Yoruichi's smile widened even more. "Out of all the lieutenants, you are by far our favorite."

Rukia's expression of surprise grew before returning Yoruichi's smile. "I didn't know that you guys regard me that highly...I'm honored, thank you."

Yoruichi laughed and ruffled Rukia's hair. "Oh come on now, no need to get all formal on us! You and Ichigo are practically family to us! Actually we'll literally be family once the idiot finally asks you to marry him." remarked Yoruichi in a cheerful tone.

Rukia looked away blushing ever so slightly, "Yeah, I guess you're right about that." she said with a smile on her face, finding the thought very comforting.

Yoruichi jumped up and pulled Rukia to her feet.

"We'll go over the details and start the training tomorrow, but you need to rest today, come on."

Rukia wobbled a tiny bit as she stood up, her strength was completely gone. There was no way she would be able to make it back to the barracks in this condition.

"Damn it!" she exclaimed as she fell over just before being caught by Yoruichi.

"Oh wow, you're more drained than I realized. Don't worry though, I know the perfect thing for you right now!" an amused Yoruichi chuckled before flash stepping over to a hot spring with Rukia in her arms. "Alright, just take off your clothes and relax in there. I'll be back with a fresh uniform for you." ordered a cheerful Yoruichi after setting down the tired shinigami.

"Wait! I told Ichigo I'd be back soon! I can't just relax in a hot spring!" expressed a needlessly panicked Rukia.

Yoruichi laughed, "Don't worry about it, I'll handle Ichigo. Besides if he were here, he'd want to _relax_in there with you! Now just take it easy and I'll be back soon!"

Before Rukia could respond, Yoruichi sped off in a burst of shunpo, leaving the small woman by herself with a very noticeable blush on her face.

Rukia sighed and took off her uniform, dipping into the magical hot spring. She felt every stress on her body fade away as she sunk into the soothing warm waters of the pool.

She leaned back against the rock with only her face sticking out of the water. She marveled as every injury that she just got from bankai training started to heal very quickly. She had never been this relaxed in her whole life.

'_Now if only Ichigo were here_.' she thought to herself, causing Sode no Shirayuki to chuckle elegantly.

* * *

><p>"KUROSAKI-TAICHO!"<p>

Ichigo awoke to someone shouting in his ear, and jolted up with a start.

"Wha- argh!" He shouted as he fell backwards on his chair.

The Captain groaned and made no move to get up from the undignified position. He was tired, and now embarrassed so whoever had shouted could go screw themselves as fer as he was concerned.

Unfortunately for him, Yoruichi popped her head over his desk to grin at him.

"I'm ashamed of you Ichigo, Captain's should always be alert." She chided mockingly, getting a glare from Ichigo.

"Nel! Why didn't _you_wake me?" He complained from the floor.

The Arrancar popper her over face over the desk and smiled at him brightly. "Because Auntie Yoruichi said that you would like it more if she did it." She said cheerfully.

Ichigo turned his glare back to Yoruichi, who smirked at him.

"I can see why Byakuya doesn't like you now." He grumbled, pushing himself up from the floor.

She just laughed and sat on the desk, which was markedly cleaner than when it had been when Ichigo had started doing the paperwork. Seeing that she wasn't going to leave any time soon, he sighed and pulled his chair back up, sitting back down to face her.

"So..." He started, propping his head up with his arm against the desk.

Yoruichi stared at him for a few moments, then responded. "Is the big-shot Captain still up for a bit of training with his mentor?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Training?"

She nodded, mischief in her eyes.

"Of course, I barely taught you any of what I know from the stealth corps. You make have the power but technique..." She slid out her Zanpakuto and had it at his throat before he could react.

"Is still a bit lacking in some aspects." She taunted.

Ichigo glanced at the blade before grunting and nodding his head.

"Yeah, yeah. Fine, if it'll make you happy." He agreed.

Yoruichi smirked: training one fighter to beat down the other Captains, that was nice. But training _two_, now that was just plain fun.

* * *

><p>(AN) Right, in this chapter, the section where Rukia is training? That was written by Tenshot. The rest is bits of his idea's and bits of my own but certainly written by me.

Now, for the good news, this is the last chapter before the tournament starts. So, you know, the end is nigh and what-not. Hope you enjoy it, and no I don't know when I will update next!


	51. Round 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

* * *

><p>It was here.<p>

The day of the fight for the remaining Captains seats had finally arrived, drawing shinigami from all over the Seireitei to witness the unprecedented displays of power which would be on show. However, not all of them would be able to see it; the arena was limited to seated shinigami because of the sheer amount of reiatsu which would be blasted out during the fights.

Naturally, this gave someone an idea.

"Yes, yes, this is a one time offer! Urahara's live-stream of the Captaincy fights!" The business man called out, shamelessly advertising his latest venture.

Yoruichi stood by and watched with a smirk as her partner walked up to a nervous-looking shinigami.

"Hey there, can't get into the arena?" Urahara asked, putting on his sympathetic voice.

"W-well, I-" The shinigami tried, but he was cut off as Urahara slapped his hand on his shoulder.

"You need to know how powerful the new Captains are, right? For the right price you can come and watch the fights in my..." Yoruichi glared at him. "I mean my friends mansion!"

"Really?" The man replied, startled.

Urahara nodded and gestured behind him to his small stall. "Yup, just have a look at the prices over there. Come one, come all..."

That sale done, he started looking for more money in the crowd around the arena. Unfortunately, he did wear rather distinctive clothes, along with his trademark hat, so it was him who was spotted first.

"Ura-Kisuke, whatever." A tired voice sighed from beside him, making the shopkeeper turn.

His eyes landed on a worn-down Ichigo and he hid his grin behind his fan, knowing exactly why the Captain was tired.

Yoruichi was a...harsh teacher at the best of times, the only times she deviated from that was when she felt the person wouldn't benefit from that method. Apparently, Ichigo could take her training (and considering his previous experience, Urahara wasn't surprised) so she had pushed him as hard as she could.

All the while training Rukia as well.

The result of which was a tired Ichigo and a tired and lazy Yoruichi. She had given Rukia some time of nearer the fights to recuperate but denied Ichigo the same privilege.

Not that he knew who Rukia was training with.

"Why if it isn't Captain Ichigo! You're looking a little worse than the last time I saw you." He joked, getting a glare in response.

"I'm willing to bet you know why too." Ichigo growled.

"Aha, now why would I-"

"Stop lying, Kisuke: that voice grates on my ears." Yoruichi complained, followed by a large yawn.

The shopkeeper pouted and sighed. "So cruel..."

Ichigo just looked blankly between the two of them. Urahara always knew what was going on, and if he didn't the Yoruichi would find out and replay it back to him. Mentally he grieved the long suffering loss of his privacy from the two of them.

"Don't worry, Captain Ichigo, we don't know _everything._" Urahara grinned, as if reading his mind.

Ichigo just scowled.

"The day that you don't go snooping around everyone's business is the day I resign as Captain."

"Snooping? No, that sounds so dirty, I would call it...being prepared." The ex-Captain said slyly.

Yoruichi chose this moment to slide closer to the two, effectively turning the attention to her as she gave Ichigo's shoulder a light slap.

"Still feeling sore?" She joked, looking at his slight grimace.

"What do you expect, sensei." Ichigo muttered, before noticing his own slip and freezing.

Urahara looked like someone had kicked his puppy as he stared at Ichigo.

"Sensei? You never called me that and I gave you your powers. All my friends are so-" As always, his melodramatics were cut short by a sharp knock on the head by his partner, which almost knocked his hat off.

"It was a fair deal, wouldn't you say, Ichigo?" She grinned, resembling her cat form.

Urahara glanced to him and noticed his slight blush.

"Ahh." He muttered in a sage-like tone.

"No! No, 'ahh'." Ichigo instantly denied, trying to hide the embarrassing truth from the piercing eyes which lurked beneath the shadow of his hat.

Unfortunately it could not be hidden from the man who may as well have a radar for anything which he could use to poke someone else's weak spot with.

In this case, he stepped forwards solemnly and laid a hand (in a way Ichigo later guessed was supposed to be comfortingly) on his shoulder and lowered the tone of his voice to utter these words:

"Yoruichi threatened to strip didn't she?"

Ichigo was already spluttering an excuse.  
>"Ah-I, I've got to go and sort out something. Don't cause trouble Urahara!" The young Captain's command was somewhat lessens in it's effectiveness by his red face and desperation to get away from the two smirking ex-Captains.<p>

He vanished into the crowed moments later, leaving the two alone amongst the Shinigami.

"Ah, youth." Urahara chuckled, waving himself with his fan.

"Naiive as he is, I wouldn't get on his bad side." Yoruichi smirked.

He raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. "Mmmm? When you say it like that it makes me wonder how much stronger he has gotten, at least the Shihouin house will be in good hands."

"Well if their max reiatsu is anything to go by, then any child of theirs will make a good head." Yoruichi murmured, considering the future which could await them. It had been uncertain if the Soul-society would make it through the Aizen incident, despite their continued hope that they would. It was only now that they could truly turn their minds back to happier topics, such as the creation of new families and bonds.

She glanced in the direction of the arena, before turning and walking past Urahara's stall. A certain Lieutenant may be getting in some last minute training, but she would soon put a stop to that. Rukia needed to be there for the fights as much as anyone.

No, more than anyone, given the Lieutenants and Captain's she would be up against.

"Oh, going to visit your other trainee?" Urahara called out knowingly.

"Of course." She replied without turning her head.

He nodded and paused for a moment, as if considering his next question carefully. The seconds ticked by as Yoruichi waited for the inevitable question which she was sure had been in his mind from the moment Ichigo had turned as red as his namesake.

"So, do I have to be jealous of Ichigo's eyes?"

There it was.

She turned her head towards him slightly and grinned. "Only if you also want to be jealous of your own hands."

Her rebuttal said she vanished in a burst of shunpo, leaving the shopkeeper alone to try and squeeze as much money out of the shinigami as he could. More malicious people might even think of it as his petty revenge as his unfair dismissal all those years ago.

Really, he just enjoyed his job.

Alone, Urahara pulled out his fan and gave a small grin.

"Well, well, looks like this will be fun." Mind split between perverted thoughts and business (The way he operated best) he turned back to the crowd of shinigami and started scanning for someone who might like to watch a little fight.

* * *

><p>The arena was packed by the time the event started. What was originally intended to be a fight to determine the true fighting strength of the Captains in order to aid in the final decision had turned into a spectacle for all the shinigami.<p>

Yamamoto couldn't help but frown as he looked down onto the sea of faces, this wasn't what he had intended at all. There was a reason that the eldest Captains never used their bankai, so their true strength was never revealed unless it was absolutely necessary. However, there was another reason, so that there would not be any collateral damage and the shinigami under them would not start to fear those above because of their power.

Lost in his thought, the Captain-commander didn't notice his closest subordinates approach him from behind.

"Are you sure that such a display is a good idea?" Ukitake questioned his friend, unconsciously mimicking Yamamoto's thoughts.

Shunsui just nodded and looked out into the crowd with a smile. "We have had tough times of late. Despite everything we are still recovering from Aizen in small ways, the Captain-less squads will have had the worst of it. What everyone needs is an event to enjoy and relax with, and the Captain-less squads get proof that their Captains will be able to stand toe-to-toe with the current ones."

Ukitake inclined his head in agreement at the other Captain's analysis of the event. When the secretive nature of the Soul-society had been used against them in the past, a show of good faith like this would raise the moral which had been sorely lacking of late. Not fatal so, but betrayal was not something that was easily forgotten.

"Where are the rest of the Captains?" Yamamoto asked, interpreting their debate.

"Retsu's staying down below given that it's Captain's fighting." Shunsui responded, then started counting the rest off on his fingers. "Soi-fon and Kurotsuchi aren't coming, but the rest should be here to watch and participate. The only one I haven't confirmed is Ichigo."

As if on cue, the youngest Captain poked his head around the door.

"I'm not late am I?" He asked, preparing to blame Urahara if he did end up late.

Luckily Ukitake smile at him. "Not yet, I think the Captain-Commander wants to address the audience first."

Ichigo nodded and walked up to the three elder Captains, slightly nervous. It wasn't everyday he spent alone with men with more experience that he could hope to get in a lifetime, given that they had lived more than several. Now that he thought about it, it was the first time he had been alone with the three of them.

"Will you be fighting then?" Shunsui asked amicably.

Ichigo nodded. "If I can, I'm sorry about my absence of late." Despite coming back from Hueco Mundo, he had been rather busy since he had been back.

But Shunsui waved it off. "I don't remember you being so polite, as long as you're going to give us all a good display it'll be worth it, ne?"

Ichigo nodded with a smirk, he would give them something to watch.

When the last of the Captains who would be watching had gathered, Yamamoto stepped forward and knocked his ancient cane on the stone balcony three times. The deep sound reverberated around the arena, carrying his presence with it and silencing all the shinigami present.

"Today, you will all witness something which is unprecedented in the history of the Soul-Society" His powerful voice deepened the impact of his words, raising the expectations of all those present. "A tournament to aid in the decision of which Lieutenant is elevated to Captaincy. Once the Lieutenants who have put themselves forward for the position have proven themselves against each other, the final battle will be between winning Lieutenants and a Captain. Now prove you are capable!"

The end of his speech was met with a deafening applause which was exaggerated by the echoes off the walls of the arena. He waited until this had died down to announce the first fight, the shinigami in question walking out of the tunnels as he spoke.

"Then we shall begin with round one: Renji Abari versus Izuru Kira."

Once more loud applause followed, along with cheers of support from the respective squads. The two shinigami met in the middle and bowed to one another before Renji grinned.

"It's been a while since we fought hasn't it?"

"It has, the academy was the last time wasn't it?"Kira replied, recalling the time the had spent in the shinigami academy with Rukia and Momo.

Renji nodded. "A lot has happened since then." Yes, he had beaten the other shinigami in sword fights, but looking back on it he could see a million ways that Kira could have defeated him.

And he knew Kira could see them too.

"The result will not be the same this time, I hope you are prepared." The blonde shinigami said solemnly. Despite his tone Renji noticed the smallest hint of a smile flicker briefly before his face returned to the expression of a man focused on his goal.

"Well, they say we learn from the past!" Renji grinned, before his own face straightened as he focused on his target.

This would not be an easy fight, he knew that regardless of the Lieutenant he would have his work cut out for him. The unspoken rule was already in place: no bankai until they could prove they could stand up to a Captain. Which left him at the mercy of Kira's formidable shikai and kido skills.

But he still had the upper hand in zanjutsu and hohou.

He looked up and met Kira's eyes and the fight began.

Surprisingly it was Kira who took the offensive, dashing forward and engaging Renji in combat with a horizontal swing towards the other Lieutenant.

Renji use his own sword to parry the blow, flicking the blade over his body as he ducked down to avoid it. Attempting to take advantage of Kira's follow through, the Red-headed Lieutenant stabbed forwards towards his shoulder.

But Kira swerved, twisting his body to avoid the blow and regaining his balance at his returning his sword to a defensive position in front of his body. Renji pulled back his blade and eyed Kira's familiar defensive posture. Trying a similar move he had when they last fought he raised his blade and struck down heavily on his opponent.

However, Kira was ready and sidestepped, raising his blade to above his shoulder and jabbing sharply towards Renji.

It struck home and Renji grimaced as he felt the blade slice lightly into his flesh as he jumped back to put a bit more distance between the two of them.

"You've improved." He commented, eyeing his opponent.

Kira didn't respond for a moment.

"Well, not as much as you think." He finally responded, giving a small smile.

Renji frowned and decided to switch tactics as he dashed into close range again, swinging upwards this time. Kira sidestepped and prepared to swing downwards and inflict what would be a winning wound on his opponent.

However, Renji was ready for him this time and tilted to the right, revealing the kido spell that he had cast whilst charging. Kira's eyes widened as he heard the final part of the incantation-less spell come out of his comrades mouth.

"Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

The red kido exploded between the two of them to the roar of the crowd both combatants had forgotten about in their focus. Smoke engulfed the centre of the arena and the crowd waited with baited breath to see what damage the kido would do. It would not be the deciding blow but that didn't stop the excitement from rising in the stands.

Ichigo watched with interest as the smoke cleared: revealing the damage from the kido.

Kira had blocked some of it with a fast and weak defensive kido, but his shihakusho had still been torn and his arm singed. Renji smirked when he saw the damage done and silently thanked Rukia for all the help she had given him.

This time it was Kira who spoke: "It seems I'm not the only one who improved on their weaknesses."

"Well, Captain's have to be well rounded." Renji half-joked. Of course, he had also factored this in before he decided to take part in this event, so it wasn't totally a joke.

Kira nodded and gave a small smile.

"Shall we stop this warm-up early then?"

Renji responded by raising his blade and calling out as he swung it towards Kira. "Howl, Zabimaru!"

Knowing he had to try and get the first swing off before Kira released his own shikai to take the advantage, Renji aimed the deadly segmented blade at his opponents shoulder. The other Lieutenants eyes widened at the lightning fast move and barely had time to flash-step to the side, gritting his teeth against the new pain in his shoulder.

One of the blades had sliced quite deeply into it.

But still he raised his own blade: "Raise your head, Wabisuke." He muttered, the blade elongating and formed a flat hook where the blade normally ended.

Renji growled and pulled Zabimaru back to attack again, this time sweeping low in an attempt to force Kira out of his defensive posture. As intended the other Lieutenant dodged the blade by jumping over it, nicking it with his own blade as it flew past and doubling the weight of the Zanpakuto.

However, it wasn't enough to stop Renji from flash-stepping into close range, his blade retracting and swinging down once again towards Kira, who blocked with the flat of Wabisuke.

"Wha-" He exclaimed as he was almost forced onto his knees from the strength of Renji's blow. The Red-head grinned as he pushed harder against his defence.

"You can double the weight until I can't raise my blade, but until then-" Kira felt his knees shake under the force of the continuing attack. "Zabimaru can do even more damage than before!"

With a roar Renji forced his blade downwards, making Kira tilt his blade and slide Zabimaru into the ground. While his opponent recovered, he took the chance to leap back, clasp his hands together and begin chanting.

"Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda..."

Renji's eyes widened as he recognised the kido and rushed towards Kira. But it was too late and he arrived just in time to hear the end of the incantation as he leapt to strike Kira before the end of the chant.

"..silent to the end. Bakudo 75: Gochutenkkan!"

The five pillars crashed downwards on the two of them, once more obscuring the two fighters in a cloud of dust. The entire arena tensed, knowing that the effectiveness of this kido was the decider between the two fighters. Had Renji managed to get into position with his blade before the pillars had slammed him into the ground? Or had Kira's bakudo been faster?

All too slowly the dust cleared, revealing the results.

…

The arena was silent at the strange predicament before them.

It looked like Gochutekkan had been successful as the five huge pillars were holding the Lieutenant of the 6th squad down...but he had been too close to Kira when they had struck. As a result, one of the pillars had caught the blonde before he could move out of range, meaning he was stuck within striking range.

Of course, he could dispel the kido, but doing so would give Renji the chance to leap up and strike before he could recover. On the other hand, Renji could use force to break free of the pillars (or try too) but then Kira would be able to recover quicker and have Wabisuke around his neck before he could even raise his heavy blade.

Stalemate.

With that obvious, Yamamoto slammed his cane down and called down to the fighters. "Enough, the match is over." his tone implied that he had more too say and they waited with baited breath to find out the results.

"Neither of you will advance."

They wished they hadn't.

* * *

><p>(AN)

...Yeah it's been a while. What can I say, I've been at uni and writing my second Light novel, though mostly I've been lazy. As always I can't say if I will be able to update again any time soon so get as much out of it as you can. Sorry, I'm just not that interested in writing much fanfiction right now. So apologies for the combat, I actively avoid writing this type of combat in my LN so I'm still pretty poor at it I'm afraid.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I didn't give it to my beta because it's been a while xD if you're reading, then I hope you're doing well and such.

+ I hope you all are enjoying the latest Bleach chapter, personally I am waiting for the outcome of all these information teases from Kubo haha.


	52. Stand as your equal

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

* * *

><p>The first match hadn't exactly gone as expected.<p>

It wasn't that people expected the Captains to be chosen straight away, but given that both contestants were Lieutenants; one with a known bankai, it came as a surprise to the crowd that neither had been chosen as a Captain. It was even more of a surprise that they didn't even get to see a Captain class battle, since the fight had been halted beforehand. So the crowd waited with baited breath for the next fight to start, each and every shinigami wondering who would be the next to take to the arena.

Ichigo wanted to go down into the bowls of the arena to check up on how Renji was doing, sure that his friend might need a little support right now. Though, given that he was already a Captain it was possible that he wasn't the best person to do that.

"I believe Rukia said she would be waiting with Lieutenant Abarai until his match had finished." Byakuya said from beside him, as if reading Ichigo's mind.

The younger Captain nodded and was also unfortunately reminded of their...somewhat awkward seating arrangement. He was sandwiched between the uptight noble and, somehow, the mighty Yamamoto. It wasn't exactly a relaxing environment to be in by anyone's standards, and for the newest Captain it was the worst situation he could imagine. Aside from maybe being between Kenpachi and Kurotsuchi; since one of them wanted to fight him and the other wanted to experiment on him.

Oh, and they hated each other.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as Yamamoto stood and walked forward to address the crowd once again.

"It is time that the second fight was started, though fear not; those who failed in the first round will have another chance at fighting, given that the number of entrants is not high. This is to be expected, remember that it is only the most exceptionally skilled Shinigami that obtain bankai and we are lucky to have enough to fill our slots today. So I present our second fighters!"

Once he was finished, someone walked out onto the arena who made Ichigo's eyes grow wide in surprise. With that bald head, it could only be Ikkaku who stood before them, along with the unspoken claim that he had a bankai which was ready for use. Before the clamour of the crowd could grow too loud he gave a shout to gain their attention.

"Listen up! 'Cuz I'm only going to say this once and I don't want to repeat myself. I'm not running for Captaincy: I'm just here for a good fight!" He roared out defiantly.

Ichigo heard a deep chuckle and looked right to see Kenpachi laughing at his subordinates vigour. Come to thing of it, Byakuya was sitting between him and Kenpachi...he doubted that he liked his sitting position very much either. In fact he was tempted to sympathise, but that would involve thinking that he was annoying to sit next to.

Yamamoto himself gave an irritated grunt but made no move to stop the competition. The crowd waited anxiously for the competitor to emerge from the other end of the arena. Ichigo scowled at the ripple of shock that he could see going through the crowd since the Captain's couldn't yet see who it was causing all the commotion.

Then a small figure stepped out of the arena passage and onto the floor, blanking everything else from his perception. Short black hair, female, petite form and an expression of determination on her face. It was definitely-

"Rukia?" He was surprised to hear Byakuyas soft voice before his own, but her brother was correct. The noble turned to Ichigo with piercing look. "Did you know of this?"

"No...she never told me that she had achieved bankai." Ichigo replied, just as shocked.

"I'll believe you, Kurosaki."

"Thanks." He grunted, not sure if he should be happy or annoyed.

It wasn't that important; the fact that Rukia was about to engage in an all out fight with Ikkaku was a much more pressing matter. Not that he didn't think that she could handle herself, Rukia was a strong Shinigami in her own right, apparently stronger than even he had imagined. But fights with members of the 11th squad tended to be...

Messy.

And he could only grit his teeth and bare it. Apparently Ukitake noticed this from the other side of Yamamoto, for he leant forward and gave him a comforting smile.

"She'll be fine, Ichigo. I was her Captain for far longer than you after all and Rukia has a knack for doing well in stressful situations." He assured him.

Ichigo nodded, knowing that she would be fine. But that didn't change the fact she was going to engage in a dangerous fight right before him. He supposed it was the kind of thing one just had to deal with when they were in a military group, which the Shinigami ultimately were. God knows she'd had her fair share of time to worry about him.

Down in the arena, Ikkaku and Rukia were finally within speaking range.

"So, you've picked up a few tips from Kurosaki?" The 3rd seat joked, getting a small smile from Rukia.

"Not exactly, he and nii-sama are probably the people who are most surprised right now."

"Aha, I would have thought he'd be keeping a tight watch on you."

"I had a good mentor." Rukia replied with a smirk, thinking of the ex-Captain who was only too happy to pull a fast one behind her other student. In fact she was pretty sure that Urahara would have helped if he had needed to, if only to irk Ichigo.

Ikkaku grinned and put his hand on his sword. "Well I'll be expecting a lot from someone who's been around Captain Kuchiki and Ichigo a lot. I'm not gonna go easy on you 'cus you're a girl."

"I would be insulted if you did." Rukia bit back, her smirk hardening into an expression of determination.

She had trained, trained hard for this moment. When she could fight at a level that would make both Ichigo and her brother proud. Not only that, she never wanted to be left behind because she would be a burden on the fight; she had to stand beside Ichigo.

Yamamoto's booming voice interrupted their small talk.

"Ready yourselves!"

Rukia's hand went to her blade and she drew it without hesitation, holding it before her with both hands. Her feet shifted to give her a wider base and lower centre of gravity, a basic stance which had served her well during her time as a Shinigami. Ikkaku adopted a more personal stance, his sword held slightly off centre with his scabbard in his other hand and his centre of gravity lower.

"Begin!"

His reasoning became clear as he shot forwards, his stance helping as he dug his feed into the dirt and raised his blade to strike. Rukia angled hers to defend against it, but was surprised when there was no connection. Almost instantly she felt his reiatsu behind her and launched into her own shunpo, landing a few meters away.

She turned to see Ikkaku smirking at her before he dashed forward again, his blade once more swinging down towards her. This time it wasn't a feint and she parried the blade down her eyes widening for a moment when she saw the scabbard swinging towards her head. Once more she was forced backwards to dodge the blow, but instantly slammed her foot into the ground and lunged forward aiming for the 3rd seats leg to hamper his movement.

But Ikkaku saw it coming and hopped up, kicking off the air and bringing his scabbard down first this time. Rukia made a split-second decision and instead of dodging the attack she raised her arm and whipped it sideways to knock the attack away from her head. She grit her teeth as the wood scraped down her arm.

But her reasoning became when she took advantage of Ikkaku being off balance and made a sharp jab forwards, forcing him to shunpo away. But not before she felt the bitter sting of his blade slicing into her cheek.

First blood went to Ikkaku.

There was a pause in the combat in which Ikkaku turned and grinned at her, as she wiped the small amount of blood on her cheek away. She mentally scolded herself for being blinkered by her own attack and letting him get that close to her, even if it had been her attack which had driven him back.

Then they moved again in a burst of Shunpo, swords connecting again and again as they darted around the arena. Rukia frowned as she was forced onto the defensive, his two-handed style something she hadn't had to fight against in recent memory. She pulled back once again, but not before the scabbard swept her legs out from under her, knocking her to the ground as she landed.

Ikakku took advantage and jumped up, his Zanpakuto coming down at a frightening speed. She rolled away as it landed, pushing up and using shunpo to barely escape the follow up that came in the form of the scabbard slamming down on where she had been moments before.

His constant pressure was testing her skills and it was now that she could truly admire the skills of someone who was in the 11th squad. Ichigo was good at Zanjutsu too, but even he would claim that Ikkaku was more technically skilled than him (at least for now). That was the 11th squad, living and dying by the sword. No other squad had that absolute devotion to one area of fighting and it was at times like this when it truly shone through.

"Haha, well I never thought you'd be able to give me a good fight" Ikkaku laughed."You must have had some pretty good teacher to up your Zanjutsu that quickly."

"Thanks, I'll pass on your praise – she'll appreciate it." Rukia replied with a smile, knowing that Yoruichi would indeed enjoy the attention; even if she doubted her ability in a longer fight with him, she had wanted to see how far she could go without using Kidou.

Zanjutsu was, after all, not her speciality. After all, Captain Ukitake used a Kidou type Zanpakuto and she had always been better at that area of the Shinigami's arsenal.

"Well, at the risk of being formulaic, let's get serious shall we?" Ikakku grinned, taking the end of his scabbard and holding it to the hilt of his sword.

Rukia just nodded and stabbed her blade into the ground four times as Ikkaku spun his weapon, both pouring their reiatsu into the Zanpakuto. Then, with a burst of power, they shouted their release commands and raised their eyes to the other.

"Extend, Houzukimaru!"

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

It was Rukia who moved first this time, surprising the crowd as she used shunpo to slip behind him and raised her hand.

"Hado: 31, Shakkahou." The red ball appeared in her hand in an instant and burst out towards Ikkaku, making him take a few steps to the side to avoid the devastating attack. And right into her trap.

"Some no mae, Tsukishiro." She murmured, the white circle appearing below Ikkaku as he stopped. The 3rd seat looked down and cursed when he saw his feet start to freeze solid, the ice moving from a crawl to a dash as it shot upwards into the sky. The heads of the crowd followed it upwards, marvelling at the singular column of ice.

"Shit, that was close." A male voice growled

Rukia turned to see that Ikkaku had just managed to escape a complete freezing, instead it was only his left leg which had been caught in the frost. With a fair amount of strain he managed to pull his leg out of the ice, shattering it around the appendage. He turned to focus on his enemy, reminding himself that her speciality was Kidou, which they never used at the 11th squad. In that sense she had a wider range of tactics which she could use against him.

A fact which she proved again moments later when she held out her hand.

"Bakudou: 63, Sajou Sabaku." The glowing yellow chain started snaking over his shoulder moments later, threatening to constrict his movements completely. But Ikkaku was not going to give her the chance for the binding Kidou to land and shunpo'd towards her, forcing her to break off the attack and bring up her white blade to block the attack.

"Split!" Ikkaku grinned, the spear splitting into three parts and swinging around her blade.

Rukia rolled away with a grunt, the effort of using a high level binding kidou and having to cancel it sapping a fair amount of her strength. But she wasn't given time to recover as the bottom section of Houzukimaru threatened to knock her feet out from under her. However, she managed to jump over the attack and sliced sidewards at her opponents arm. She grimaced when her attack slid off the golden spaulder but it was enough to force Ikkaku backwards for a moment.

But he was only moving backwards so he could kick forward again with more speed, stabbing forward with the bladed section of his weapon. Rukia had to make a decision; risk using Hakuren to push him away or try and parry him again. None of the kidou she knew would be effective enough at this moment, with her being preassured into close combat. Even Hakuren needed a bit of space for her to set the attack up. But she only had milliseconds with Ikkaku bearing down on her with an attack which could finish her if she wasn't careful.

Epiphany.

"San no mai, Shirafune." She murmured, the tip of her blade glowing white as it started extending. Moments before defeat, she finally swung her sword up to meet his attack, even as Ikkaku started to prepare a counter attack in his mind.

But he stopped when his blade cut through hers, the white tip of it spinning through the air and catching the light. His eyes followed it in surprise which gave Rukia the time she needed to use shunpo and dodge his attack, as well as strike him with her own. It was a small, sharp kick which knocked her opponent off balance, only to be followed up by a much stronger one as she spun around and kicked him across the arena.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings..." She started chanting, channelling all her reiatsu into the attack. Her exhaustion from the failed bakudou from before was long gone and she focused on her target. "...In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens."As she finished, Ikkaku emerged in a burst of spiritual pressure, dodging from side to side as he made his way towards her. But her entire plan rested upon his aggressive nature and once again she called out the name of her blades third attack, the hadou attack still ready in her hands.

"San no mai, Shirafune!"

The white speck that remained of the icy extension which had been cut off by Ikkaku's Zanpakuto suddenly grew and connected back to her blade's tip, catching the 3rd seats foot in the ridiculously long blade's chilly grasp. Which meant he was stopped for all of a moment, but that was exactly what Rukia needed.

"Hadou, 73, Souren Soukatsui!" The blue balls of energy burst forth from her hands, overflowing with power after the full chant. Her plan meant that Ikkaku only had time to widen his eyes as the hadou slammed into him, creating a blinding explosion of blue which blew the dust up around the arena, obscuring them from view.

Ichigo was watching with wide eyes, shocked that she had managed to get the drop on Ikkaku. It wasn't that he didn't trust her strength...but he had trained with her not that long ago and he didn't recall her pulling any of these kind of tricks on him. Once he had gotten over the slight shock, he grinned.

"I haven't seen her fight seriously in a long time.." The young Captain grinned.

Ukitake heard and leaned forward. "She's grown a lot, I'm glad she's positioned as a Lieutenant now."

"Indeed." Byakuya agreed somewhat stiffly; it was him who had her denied her promotion to start with after all. Before the attention could turn to him because of that however, another voice drew the attention of the Captains.

"Byakuya, is Rukia fighting yet?" A soft voice asked hesitantly.

The Captains turned to see Hisana standing behind them, looking very nervous in the presence in front of the most powerful men in the Soul Society. She did look slightly more relieved when she saw that Ichigo and Byakuya were right in front of her, even if Yamamoto was one along from them.

"Hisana...She's actually fighting now." The noble responded, then held his hand out towards his colleagues. "I don't believe you've ever met Head Captain Yamamoto. Or any of my other co-workers for that matter."

Hisana bowed deeply and Yamamoto gave her a small nod before speaking. "Now is hardly the time for formalities, Kuchiki." Byakuya bowed his head in apology and stood to offer his wife a seat.

"N-no, I can stand." She replied with a small blush, very aware of the stares she was getting. It wasn't just her of course, Byakuya was getting his fair share of amused looks which he stoically ignored.

Somewhat enjoying the situation, Ichigo leant his head towards his girlfriends brother. "Now imagine this but with a thousand more people and you'll know what Rukia and I have to deal with."

Byakuya just glared back at him.

Then, almost as one, the Captains turned their attention back to the clearing dust in the arena, two figures already clear in it. Ikkaku gave a loud laugh and rolled his shoulders, relishing in the pain that came after a strong attack. It was what kept him going, what kept him fighting. Rukia was faring better than him but she had a bleeding cut in her lower leg which she had obtained without noticing it at some point.

She could barely feel it, such was the strength of the adrenaline flowing through her body. Yet still she was angry that she was taking a few hits, a few centimetres deeper and the wound would have severely hampered her movement.

"You know, I want to go all out." Ikkaku grinned at her, condensing his weapon back into a spear and staring her down. He wasn't going to let some little idea about keeping your bankai secret stop him from going all out. Not now that the gotei 13 knew he had a bankai that he didn't want to use for captaincy.

In the past he had always said that he would keep that secret until his death, but with the current state of the gotei 13 he was itching for a good fight. Shikai was just not cutting it now that he knew he could push himself so much further. His lust for fighting had driven him into the limelight and he would gladly fight the girl before him with all his strength, not hesitating even for a moment in the battle.

So he was extremely happy when Rukia nodded and let go of her blade, the action gaining the attention of the entire audience instantly. It was the Captains who were the most surprised, all feeling the obvious rise in reiatsu. They all knew that here was when the battle truly got serious, with the words which erupted out of their mouths.

"Bankai!"

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><p>(AN) Greetings from a strange future where I upload constantly! I don't really have any excuses to be honest, I just haven't been writing that much. And as I said before, when I do write it tends to be on my light novel or drawing, or doing uni work. Which is basically 3d modelling and flash animation as well as making a 2 min or so movie for the web. Fun times. Though my new tablet is making it a bit more enjoyable.

On topic (if there was one) Bleach is good atm :D I'm really liking the way things are going, though every chapter makes my fic more and more AU haha, that's what I get for being lazy I suppose. Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry as always for the random release times of late! I really do appreciate all your support. But I don't want to force bad chapters when I'm not in the mood :)

'till next time!


	53. Field of Eternal Snow

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

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><p>The crowd watched in awe as two great upside-down waterfalls of power rose up into the sky before vanishing into that vast, blue void. One was the purest white, outlined with a pale blue hue which softened the intense light it produced; stopping it from being blinding. The other was a deep red, even darker at the edges, which contrasted magnificently with the other and only increased the crowds expectations of the coming fight.<p>

If they could even see it.

Likewise, the Captains were watching with baited breath for the weapons which would emerge from behind the veil of power. No one knew what sort of bankai they would be witness to today, and the Aizen incident had given them all more of a reason to pay attention to such things. Even if they sacrificed the absolute secrecy of their bankai it would be worth it to regain the trust that had been lost.

Plus the Captain Commander actually hoped that tales of these fights would spread far and wide; enough that their true power would be exaggerated a hundred fold by the time they reached the enemies ears.

It was possible that the person who was most impressed by the display was Hisana, who was watching with wide eyes at the display of total power before her. She had never seen such a sight before, in fact the only bankai she had ever seen had been Byakuya's for obvious reasons. It was unlikely that anyone outside the Gotei 13 would ever see one.

Yet here she was: standing before giants, one of which was her sister.

She was so lost in the moment that she didn't notice she had unconsciously put her hand on Byakuya's arm, seeking to be grounded from this insane power. The noble looked up in surprise before taking her hand in his own. This seemed to draw her out of her daze and she looked down, somewhat embarrassed by her display of weakness.

"Rukia has grown strong." Byakuya said simply, yet it was all she needed from him.

"Yes, she's certainly grown up." Hisana replied softly, squeezing his hand. "Thank you."

Ichigo, who had glanced over when he heard Byakuya's voice, instantly looked away and focused on the fight again. Seeing the stoic man behave so...humanly, it was still quite new to him and he didn't like watching romantic scenes at the best of times. Ones with the brother of his girlfriend...they could stay as far away from him as possible.

For him, it was the similarity to Byakuya's bankai which had struck him first. The dropping of the blade, that pillar of white power, it seemed that someone had been paying attention to their brother's abilities. But far from irritating him, it instead caused him to smile; it was nice to see that their relationship had improved to the point where they were as good as real siblings. That was all he had ever wanted from Byakuya after all.

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><p>Finally the smoke and pillars of reiatsu started clearing, revealing the two to both have weapons which were about double their size.<p>

Ikkaku stood with two large blades in his hand, both slightly different. The right was a shaped like a 'T' but was curved at the top where the blade glinted as testament to its sharpness. However, the left blade was more like a spear head; both had large tassels of red fur attached to the base of the blade. The strangest part about his bankai to the crowd was the large axe-blade shaped blade which floated in the air behind his shoulders with a dragon crest snaking its way along the chunk of metal.

The first response Ichigo heard was Kenpachi's chuckle.

"Haha, 'knew Madrame's bankai would be a physical one."

Ichigo agreed silently, nothing else would suit the rampaging fighter than the absurdly over the top weapon he saw before him. His eyes turned to Rukia, to see the thing he had been waiting for since she entered the field.

Her bankai.

She stood still, ice spread out from her feet covering half the arena and her hand on the blade that had -instead of being dropped into the ground as Byakuya's Senbonzakura was- been stabbed into the new ice field. But it was no longer the white katana which they were familiar with, it had grown into something far more imposing.

But every bit as beautiful.

In the blades place was an elegant, white, double-bladed scythe, stretching above her head by a few meters. The ice still grasped at the base of the weapon, which was an elegant, faintly inscribed, pommel with a short and deadly curved blade at the end. Even the curved grip of the blade was white, as well as being made of wood and having a small metal ring embedded into it near the head of the weapon. Attached to the ring was a string with a small crystal or shard of ice at the other end and a white ribbon attached to that.

However it was the blade which was drawing the most eyes, the two white blades looking too pure for their place on a weapon. The main blade stretched forward, ready to carve a vicious cut into anything it came into contact with. Conversely the second blade faced upwards, reaching above the main blade and striking at the sky despite being only 1/5th of the length of the first. Both were connected by a smooth, curved extension of the hilt which split off into small tendrils as it reached the blades.

"Hyouden, Sode no Shirayuki." Rukia said softly as she stepped forward to take the weapon in both hands, making her look every bit the reaper she was.

Ikkaku whistled in appreciation at the weapon. "Now that's a pretty blade, and it's not everyday that I say that." Then he grinned. "But will it hold up to my bankai? Ryuumon Houzukimaru."

"Why don't we find out?" Rukia asked, before vanishing with a burst of shunpo and appearing before him with her scythe already swinging.

Her opponent used his left blade to block the weapon and moved his foot back to swing his right one at her but was caught off guard when he felt it slip. _Slip?_against the rough ground of the arena? He looked down in surprise to see that the ground was actually just as frozen as it had been around her when she had first activated her bankai.

Rapidly understanding the situation he slid her blade to one side and jumped up, making sure to stand on air rather than land back on the ground.

"That's a nice trick." He complimented, understanding the situation from his vantage point in the air. The icy field around her had moved with her when she had changed position, making his ground unstable whereas hers was not.

He already had an inkling that her bankai was going to do the opposite thing to his: which was to say it would be able to do many things whilst his was simply a straight increase in strength. The result of which meant he had to be on his toes during this fight, the wrong move could land him in an icy hell without much hope of escape.

"Thank you." Rukia said with a small smile that belied her strategic brain, which was ticking away and trying to decide how best to deal with someone who was pure physical strength.

"But only being able to affect the ground might hamper you abit." Ikkaku grinned and jumped back into the action without landing, stabbing forward with his spear-head.

Rukia dodged to the side and surprised him by raising her large scythe and spinning it so the main blade touched the ice and the small blade on the pommel was facing him...then it jabbed forward. All of this was done in around a second and Ikkaku was forced to dodge the sequence of attacks lest he lose his head to the fearsome weapon.

But being defensive wasn't his style and he soon found an opportunity to knock the weapon to the side, unbalancing her and allowing him to get a shallow cut into her leg. The wound was covered in ice in an instant and she slammed the pommel down on the ground, using it as support whilst she delivered a sharp kick to his chest. However, it wasn't strong enough to damage him and it put her in a bad position when he struck down with his curved blade.

The Lieutenant's eyes widened, as did the audience as everyone wondered if the fight was going to be bought to a sudden and violent end.

But the attack never hit.

Instead Ikkaku was left with his blade lodged in the ice as he wondered how his opponent had managed to escape him without using shunpo. A question which was answered a moment later when he turned his head to see a shard of ice rise out of the field just before his opponent burst out of it, the deadly blade in her hands once more swinging towards him.

This time, with his movement hampered he could only partially doge it and grimaced when he felt the ice-cold blade slice into his back as he ducked and finally managed to break out of the ice to counter attack.

Rukia was mentally annoyed that she had to use that ability so soon into the fight, it had been something she had preferred to save for a surprise later on. But it had done it's job so she didn't have many complaints on that front. As she defended herself from the onslaught of blows as well as she could when fighting such a skilled opponent she found the time to glance away to the side, to the edge of the ice field.

Despite how much she defended herself again and again she would feel the blade slicing into her, making her grit her teeth and freeze over the wound to prevent blood loss. She could only be thankful that all of the cuts thus far, aside from a nasty one on her leg, had been pretty shallow and hadn't impaired her moment. Never the less she kept her eye on the ever increasing red glow that was moving along the dragon crest of his weapon, sure it was relevant to his bankai.

'_Right, I just need to come up with a plan.'_ She thought, shunpo'ing away from his deadly blades to try and think for a few seconds.

But Ikkaku wasn't having any of it, he knew as well as she did if not more that her best bet was to try and trap him as she had done before. Just as she knew that he would make short work of her if she continued to fight with him in close combat because of her weapon and his overwhelming skill with two blades.

So he kept the distance between them close, constantly on the offensive and forcing her to block his blows with her large scythe. Even whilst she tried to find a gap to return the attack the spear-head was jabbed towards her abdomen, which she spun Sode no Shirayuki to divert the weapon away from her. As luck would have it, the force of her spin set Ikkaku off balance and she took the initiative to swing her large blade at his head.

Ikkaku's eyes widened and he ducked lest he be caught by the upwards pointing blade which came after the large blade on the front of the weapon.

The Lieutenant took advantage of his momentary distraction and redirected her blade downwards, aiming it towards the ground. In the next instant she stabbed it down into the ground, forcing her reiatsu through the blade and into the frozen earth around her. As she did so, frozen spikes shot upwards, exploding out from around her in a circle around her.

She sudden influx of ice caught her opponent by surprise and he grinned as he jumped backwards, numerous shards having sliced into his legs and left bloody scratches in their wake. He landed out side the range of her ice and dropped onto the floor for a moment, eyeing the slippery trap that could clearly be used as a death trap just a quickly. He took the moment to try and find a weakness in her bankai, after all just because they were more powerful it didn't mean they didn't have their flaws.

His own was a perfect example, the large, savage blade growing ever more brittle as they grew more powerful. Raw power always had the highest cost after all, but he was still sure that the key to his victory would be her flawed bankai. That and he knew that he had more combat experience than the Lieutenant, no matter their respective position.

The 3rd seat's thoughts were cut short when the ice field rapidly started to deplete, drawing inwards around her before finally being reduced to only a small disc around her feet. Just as he thought he had the advantage, that her reiatsu had been depleted, a path of ice shot across the ground, heading straight for him. Ikkaku reacted instantly, hopping upwards to avoid whatever attack was coming towards him.

But his eyes widened when a column of ice grew from the place where the ice stopped, quickly becoming level with him. A grin grew on his face when he believed the attack to have missed...but that assumption was soon proved false.

As Rukia formed out of the top of the pillar, her scythe raised above her head with both hands and ready to be bought down upon him.

Which it was.

Hard.

Even has he raised both blades in an 'x' shape to defend himself he felt the blade bite into his shoulder, ice spreading out from the wound even as it continued to tear into his flesh. The sound of metal shattering and the sight of his opponents determined violet eyes were all he saw before darkness clouded his vision momentarily as he was launched towards the floor. So fast in fact that a shock wave exploded around him on his way down, creating a ring above him as he smashed into the ground, rocks grating against his back.

When he finally opened his eyes he looked down to his blades to see them shattered and his shihakusho in tatters. But all he could do was chuckle, despite the grievous wound which had been forced into his chest.

"'Spose I should have practised with my bankai more...well the secrets out now." Ikkaku choked out, looking over to Rukia when she dropped down beside him.

"Ah, so that was it." He said, noticing that the field of ice around her had been greatly depleted by that attack. Rukia nodded and let her bankai fade, the sword returning to its shikai state as the fourth squad rushed onto the scene to take care of both of their wounds.

"Yes, Hyouden takes up quite a lot of my reiatsu, so I can barely use kidou when using it, plus attacks which use the field take up a portion of it, though Sode no Shirayuki has told me that it's more to do with my inexperience with my bankai." She explained as he was picked up and put onto a stretcher.

Ikkaku just nodded and let himself be taken away, Rukia watching with a slightly worried expression. She would have preferred that it didn't end with an attack that violent, but when you were fighting a berserker there wasn't much you could do to stop them. Though if that attack had failed then she would have been the one with a deep slice in her, since her reiatsu was already down to a barely usable amount in combat.

So she finally let her shikai go, her Zanpakuto dropping back into its base state. The winner took a deep breath, only now realising how much sweat had accumulated and been held back by the frozen air around her and just how tired she was.

"Winner, Rukia Kuchki: 5th Squad Lieutenant." Yamamto called out gruffly, followed by the roar of the crowd as the cheered for her.

It wasn't something that she really registered, her mind still somewhat dazed from the combat and massive depletion of her energy. But somehow her years of noble training managed to get her to bow to the Captain-Commander and raise a hand weakly to the crowd, acknowledging their cheers. Her eyes swept around the faces of the cheering Shinigami, barely picking out anyone as they blurred past.

But the did stop on one.

On orange.

Her eyes stopped on Ichigo as he grinned down at her, his eyes practically alight with feeling as he clapped for her. He was proud, _so_ proud of her. She had always been held back from a position which was deserving of her talents, but here and now she had shown them to the world. That she was Rukia the Shinigami: not a puppet of the Kuchiki house, not a lost little girl who needed rescuing.

A strong soldier; no, a strong _leader_ who could hold her own in combat with the best of them.

This was why he did something which he rarely did, something which even got the attention of the Captains around him. He laughed, openly and happily as he clapped for her, tempted to stand but only just refraining from doing so.

And she smiled back, knowing that he was just as happy for her success as she was. Well, to be honest she could hardly believe that she had managed to win, given her opponents was a more experienced fighter than her and she hadn't had bankai very long at all. She would make extra-sure to thank her most recent tutor: Yoruichi. The ex-princess had helped her a great deal as she trained for her bankai, even is she wouldn't help her during her training with the weapon.

That was a question for later.

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><p><em>Meanwhile, in the Shihouin mansion<em>

"I'm glad I waited." Yoruichi grinned, smiling up at girl on the massive screen which Urahara had transported in from the human world. After some fiddling about with it he declared that it was safe to use with his modified camera's and enlisted Yoruichi to set it up in a hall at the edge of the Shihouin estate.

The _very_ edge. The Shinigami present were lucky to step one foot into the grounds after all, especially given her families roots in the stealth corps.

"Why did you wait?" Urahara questioned from next to her, holding the box with his profits in it as a mother might hold her newborn child.

The ex-Captain grinned. "It was far more exciting to see it in real combat the first time, rather than spoil the show for myself."

He nodded in agreement, watching as Rukia left the arena. "It's a pretty versatile bankai, much like her Shikai and Byakuya's own bankai. I wonder what Ichigo's thinking right now..." He grinned, gently stroking the box in his arms.

Yourichi rolled her arms when she saw how he was treating the money, sure that he would sleep with the box too. Well, if the box was in the bed then she wasn't; it looked hard and like it would get in the way of their *ahem* usual night time activities. He would have to decide which one if them stayed when it came to it...she wasn't holding her breath. She turned her attention back to the screen as Urahara nudged the camera controller with his foot, spinning it around so it looked up at the assembled Captains.

The effect was instantiation.

The pair burst out laughing when they saw Ichigo's happy expression, it just looked so out of place on his usually serious face. Grumpy might be a better word for it, given his perpetual scowl. But his current expression was a far cry from it, even Byakuya looked slightly put off by the happy man beside him.

"So what's he thinking." Yoruichi laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

" I wouldn't dare to guess." Urahara chuckled, happy none-the-less that Ichigo was as happy as he was. As much as he loved annoying his protégé, he knew that the duties of a Captain could become overwhelming at times; especially when you had your own life-threatening problems on top of that every other day. He knew his companion felt the same way, given she had been keeping tabs on him since he had returned from Hueco Mundo just in case he looked like he was getting worn down.

But it looked like he was having none of that.

With another chuckled he tipped his had down. "Well, now we just have to wait and see if she will have what it takes to face the next challenge that awaits her."

"Ah, perhaps we should go to that in person." Yoruichi questioned, more serious now.

"You think he won't take kindly to it?" Urahara asked, to which she nodded.

"He is a protector after all."

"Well, we don't know if Yamamoto will go through with it...for his sake I hope not. It won't be public but it's still a harsh challenge to put someone through. Hopefully the next fight will give him enough confidence in her to stop that plan."

"We can only hope." Yoruichi agreed, turning her attention back to the screen.

They would cross that bridge when it came to it.

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><p>(AN) There, you have a bankai aha, hope you liked it. I gave a fair amount of thought to if Rukia should win or not and eventually settled on yes. She might not have if it were someone who actively trained with their bankai, for example Renji; but she had an advantage against Ikkaku because of his fighting style. That's not to make her win mean less, since he had advantages against her too.

For reference: Hyouden (apparently) means field of eternal snow, it was the best name I could get without using my below basic skills at Japanese aha.

I hope you all are enjoying Bleach too, personally I am very happy with the current arc. It's darker and therefore more enjoyable, but the charm of Bleach hasn't been lost due to that.

Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading!


	54. Loyalty

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

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><p>After the impressive display of combat prowess that the Shinigami present had been lucky enough to witness, Yamamoto informed the crowd that there would be a break before the next fight. Whilst some people took advantage of the interval to stretch their legs, most of the viewers chose to remain in the stadium and converse with their co-workers about the proceedings; no doubt placing their own bets on who would be the next Captains. After all for to have prior knowledge of who might be your Captain was almost unprecedented.<p>

The Captains themselves remained in the balcony for the most part, a few leaving for a moment or two to grab something to eat, or relieve themselves. Ichigo himself stayed put, wondering if Rukia would come up to see him or if she was resting for her next match.

He wanted to see her. Anyone would in his situation, given he had just had to watch her fight off a vicious opponent. However, Yamamoto had given strict instructions for the Captains to remain away from the barracks; following it with something about all Captains needing to stand on their own at times. Of course Ichigo would have promptly ignored him if Byakuya had not stepped up and said that he was going to check on his sister, pulling a card that Ichigo couldn't yet...family.

Yamamoto had opened an eye before grudgingly letting the noble go, whilst simultaneously stating that Byakuya's position was the only exception he would allow.

Likely because of all people, Byakuya wasn't someone who'd give Rukia unfair support.

Still, this didn't do much to ease Ichigo's temper as he, for lack of a better word, sulked. "I bet this is just that noble thing again." He mumbled childishly to no one in particular.

"The old guy's got a point, y'know?" Shunsui said, sliding into the seat next to him.

The other Captain winced slightly, knowing that he'd been acting in a rather embarrassing manner.

"Yeah...I know." Ichigo sighed, resting his head on the back of his chair.

"What do you know, you've grown up a bit, Ichigo."

Ichigo shot him a glare in response, ignoring the elder Captains chuckle. "Shut up, I know that I'm not acting like a Captain right now." Suddenly he remembered he was talking to someone many many times his own age who he actually respected for once and groaned.

"This sucks." He said simply, getting another chuckle from the other man.

"That it does, but we leaders have to set a good example. As much as your squad wants you to be there for them, they want to show you that they can stand on their own and most dream of fighting on par with their Captain. The old man knows that more than anyone, that's why he's not letting us go and support those who seek to join us. If they succeed then we'll be there to congratulate them as our equals, if they fail then we'll be there to remind them of what they want to achieve. But until then, they must walk that path alone, to prove to us and most of all to themselves that they are worth of being a Captain." Shunsui finished his small speech with a smile and raised a small saucer of sake to his lips.

Where he got it Ichigo had no idea.

But regardless he nodded his head, understanding the point which the elder Captain was helping him understand. "Thanks, ah, Kyouraku. I suppose you've seen it all before, I almost forget how long you've been doing this some times."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He grinned, pushing his hat up. "I don't want you younger Captains getting all antsy just because us old men have been around a while."

"Well it might just be because you're more powerful than most of us." Ichigo pointed out, before continuing. "But don't worry, I know that we're all the same rank aside from the Captain-Commander."

The older Captain hummed and gave Ichigo a contemplative look. "I don't know, you've got some scary power behind you, I know I wouldn't want to get in a fight with you."

"Tell that to Kenpachi." He grumbled.

"Shunsui isn't one to get in fights needlessly regardless of the person, he thinks they're a waste of time." A new voice said and the pair turned to see Ukitake approaching them with his usual genial smile.

"So cruel, Jushiro. You know I'm just saving myself for the moments when I'm needed." He said with a stretch, Ukitake taking the seat beside him.

"You mean by staying in sake bars?" his long-time friend joked.

Ichigo grimaced when he remembered his most recent experience with alcohol. It was certainly not something he was eager to try again, no matter how many times Renji asked him out with his friends in the 11th. The headache in the morning just wasn't worth it in his opinion, especially not when Rukia would have no mercy against him. As much as he would have loved to return the favour after she went drinking with Rangiku, she somehow managed to get away with only having the smallest of headaches, despite her small size.

Which only made her more merciless if she ever bought up the time when he had been drinking...needless to say it wasn't enjoyable for him.

"I'll pass on the sake." He said, getting a small laugh from both other Captains.

"I don't mind, there's more for me that way. I'm sure you won't mind coming for a drink after this, right, Jushiro?"

The 13th Squad Captain considered it for a moment before answering. "Well, I don't mind going to the bar with you this evening as I've no extra work today. But you know that our idea of 'drinking' varies a bit."

"That's true enough." Shunsui agreed, taking another sip of his sake.

The trio continued to chat amiably as they waited for the next event, none of them knowing what to expect as the Captain-Commander and his Lieutenant were solely responsible for the organisation of the fights. In a way this made it more exciting, but it did mean that they had to deal with the same anxiousness that the audience did in some cases.

Either way Ichigo found himself enjoying his conversation with the old friends, which wasn't surprising given that they were both very likeable people. After a time their conversation delved into the past and they started to recant stories from their time in the academy, which turned out to mostly be stories of Kyouraku's love affair with the female species as a whole. All the while, Ukitake would maintain the same expression of good natured-exasperation as he listened to his friends winding tales.

As much as he had denied it earlier, Ichigo could mentally admit that amongst the Captains it was Ukitake, Kyouraku and Unohana who were the most tricky for him to deal with. It wasn't because they were hard to talk to, in fact it was quite the opposite: they were so easy to talk to that you tended to forget how much they had seen and done. Especially for him, someone who had just stepped into adulthood, when they were likely over a thousand years old.

If nothing else it was humbling. He could admit that he tended to ignore people who demanded that he respect them; in his mind it had to be earned. Even then to be overly polite always seemed...two-faced, it was something that he wasn't fond of.

But these men, and more recently Yamamoto himself, stood as pinnacles of leadership. Even he felt strange to be speaking to them so informally, but such was the nature of Captaincy. Like it it not, they were all equal under the Captain-Commander, your time spent serving granted you respect and nothing more. He found himself wondering what kind of man he would be after he had gone through as much as them.

Would he have voted for or against the Quincy genocide? Right here and now he would object to it with every fibre in his being, but there was a small part of him that was beginning to form through his time spent with Kyoraku and Ukitake which questioned if he would end up like them. Perhaps it was because unlike a normal human he had the capacity to survive centuries, perhaps forever, and he was around people who had done so. Naturally he wondered if he would be the same man after a thousand years of Captaincy.

"You know, I don't think either of us ever really thought about what we'd be in the future." Shunsui said, surprising Ichigo with how close he was to his thoughts.

"I don't think you thought past the next girl." Ukitake joked, getting a chuckle in response. "But still, it's better not to try and think to hard about these things, the future will always be hidden to us."

Ichigo nodded, pushing aside his own thoughts of a distant and foggy future. "I just want to keep doing the best I can, to train new Shinigami up to do the best _they_ can."

Ukitake smiled. "Even if that's all you can do as a Captain then you'll continues to make a fine one, and I trust that you are capable of becoming a great one."

"Yup, give me 50 years and you'll be coming to the bar along with us on a regular basis." Shunsui grinned lazily, to which Ichigo just smirked.

"Who knows, in 50 years I might want to, but until them I'm happy to stay sober." He countered.

"You would do well to stay that way." A new voice informed him, making the three turn.

The speaker turned out to be Byakuya, having returned from his talk with Rukia, who now sat back in his seat on Ichigo's right. Ichigo glanced around him and noticed that Hisana had been chatting with Soi fon, who had apparently showed at at some point in the break without him noticing. The pair was a...strange one to say the least, but both of the odd couple seemed to be enjoying their conversation so he dismissed the thought.

Regardless, Byakuya would be on the case faster than anyone else if he wasn't happy with it.

"You know full well nobles drink as much as the best of them." Shunsui almost chided, reminding Ichigo that both he and Ukitake were both from lesser noble families.

Ukitake seemed to agree with Byakuya. "We should drink in _moderation._ Something your Lieutenant has been attempting to teach you for years."

Ichigo was glad that he seemed to be in the majority here, which meant he was less likely to get cajoled into another headache. However the conversation suddenly turned back to him when Shunsui laid his eyes on the orange-haired youth.

"Speaking of nobles, I happen to have heard rumour of the Shihoin clans rebirth as it were. They've been in a bit of a pickle ever since their last princess became an exile...you wouldn't mind giving us a more concrete source would you, Ichigo?

The Captain looked away, somewhat embarrassed and not wanting to get into the situation surrounding Yoruichi and her clan. Which would become _his_ clan. "Uhh, there's not much to say. In due time I'll be instated as the head of the clan with Yoruichi also returning as an advisor." He left out the possible future of his children this time, that wasn't something that would be relevant in the near future.

"It's true?" Ukitake asked, his eyes slightly wider than usual. Ichigo nodded his head, running a hand through his hair.

"Yup, so that'll be something else that I'll deal with when the time comes to it. Never thought I'd be sitting with a group of nobles and enjoying the conversation, and that I'd be one of them." He joked, knowing full well that he'd had at least vaguely enjoyable conversations with Rukia and Byakuya before.

Shunsui chuckled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You've just got to know when to be polite really, look at Yoruichi, from what I've heard she was pretty lax outside of formal situations."

"Well it takes one to know one, as they say." Ukitake chimed in, making Shunsui chuckle yet again.

"Ahh, well who can say. Either way I should move, old man Yamamoto'll be back for his chair in a second and I wouldn't want to be in his way."

With that the eccentric Captain gave a nod of his head and switched seats so he was sitting on the other side of Ukitake. As if on cue Yamamoto returned to his seat after a brief discussion with his Lieutenant about the upcoming fight. Either way, this would be a quick one and he wanted an insurance policy set up if this didn't go the way he hoped it would. Yamamoto considered the boy next to him for a moment before deciding that this would be as good for him as it would be for the Lieutenant.

After all, it had been proven that in-fighting was not beyond imagining.

As the crowd settled down once more he stood and walked forward, garnering the attention of everyone who was present.

"After a brief reprieve we will start the fights again." His strong voice informed them, ringing around the arena despite not being raised. Once more he paused and prepared for the response from the fifth squad's Captain before he continued.

"The next fight will be Rukia Kuchiki versus Ichigo Kurosaki."

Whilst the crowd went wild, the tension in the Captains box was suddenly suffocating. All eyes were on Ichigo, who had frozen with his head leant on his hand. Oh so slowly he lowered his hand and pushed himself up, waiting till he was at his full height before he leveled his furious gaze on the old man.

"What's the meaning of this." He questioned through clenched teeth, his body almost shaking with anger.

This wasn't a joke. This wasn't some practice fight where he could go easy on her and restrain his powers; this had to be a fight to incapacitation. Unlike Renji and Kira, he knew that what was in question here was not their ability, but their capacity to fight their friends. Even a year ago he would have immediately started shouting the Captain-Commander down, refusing to even consider the notion. But now he stood before a thousand Shinigami, each and every one of them reminding him that he was supposed to be an example.

He'd never done well with authority figures, and Yamamoto had just exemplified why. He didn't put some abstract notion of law or specific justice before his own feelings, before his friends. Before Rukia. As childish as that sounded he would never betray his own heart for something so...baseless.

But that might be the reason that Yamamoto was challenging him now, because he could at least appreciate the position he was in. In only a few years he had seen just how much influence the Captains had on their subordinates, who strived to follow in their footsteps. If Ichigo did something brash now, during a public event with the eyes of the Seireitei on him, it could bring the very integrity of the Gotei 13 into question.

His time as a Captain had given him a glimpse into how important the chain of command was...but this? This was too far.

"I suspect you already know. The crowd grows restless, Kurosaki." The Captain-Commander said, unrepentantly. If the boy was to become an even better Captain, he needed to learn a few things about power.

What power could do to society.

Ichigo simply stared back at the Captain-Commander, almost stunned by the audacity of the old man. But not shocked enough to numb the anger that was burning in his veins, which cried out for him to reject the order.

Yes, that was what this was.

An order.

"This isn't over." Ichigo almost growled before he vanished in a burst of shunpo.

A few of the Captains in the room breathed a sigh of relief as the tension in the room disappated. The Captain-Commander simply sat down, after all his interest was in what the boy would do during this task not if he would do it or not. Whilst his youngest Captain would no doubt defend to the death anyone who he deemed helpless or being persecuted, he'd still seen how following orders was a vital cog in the military machine.

Whether he wanted to think of the Gotei 13 as a military machine or not, that fact would not change.

* * *

><p>In the arena Rukia stood alone, mentally preparing herself for the fight that was to come. Shocked as she may have been when Yamamoto had announced Ichigo's name, she knew that this was just another test on the path to her Captaincy. It wasn't so much about pitting two lovers together as it was about pitting two Shinigami who were close to each other together. Perhaps it would end te mutterings from that small group of Shinigami who still questioned the loyalty of the Captains after Aizen's betrayal.<p>

Either way she trusted that a hard fight was coming her way this time, since no doubt Ichigo had figured out that he couldn't really hold back. Not that anyone really knew how strong he was at the moment, but if anyone would know, it would be Yamamoto.

Moments later he appeared before her, a small amount of dust kicking up around him. She reached out to sense his reaitsu and was almost surprised to find it completely under control; it was slight unnerving. Given Ichigo was someone who, even now, never really had complete control of his reiatsu, especially when he was angry.

Which he likely was.

"Fancy seeing you here." She joked dryly, hoping she could diffuse the situation somewhat.

"I'll be having words with the old bastard after this." He grumbled, wondering just how he could end this fight without hurting her. Doubtless she would shout at him if she knew his thoughts, but just because she could defend herself that didn't mean he _wanted_ to hurt her.

"Don't be an idiot, this is just an exhebition match. You're quite popular after all."

Despite her assurance, her Captain fully intended to follow this issue up. In the midst of his brooding an old voice drew their attention, as well as the attention of the rest of the arena.

"Begin!" The Captain-Commander called out simply, to which the crowd cheered.

Rukia grimaced and looked back to her Captain, to Ichigo. "Well, there's no point in holding back."

With that she spun her blade in her hand, her eyes meeting his for only a moment before she spoke. "Bankai: Hyouden, Sode no Shirayuki."

Once again an explosion of white reiatsu flooded the arena, as it had just a few moments ago during the last fight. Ichigo took a step back, still slightly awed that she had such an impressive bankai, at least in his eyes. Not only that bad she had a much greater knowledge of kido than he had, and far more formal training than he'd ever received. All in all she was a strong opponent... no wonder Ikkaku had just lost to her.

"Do you think you can fight me without even your shikai, Ichigo?" Rukia asked as the dust cleared, revealing her bankai shining against the dull brown of the ground.

"Rukia I-" He tried, but was interrupted when she took a step towards him, her scythe already on its way towards his head.

Though his eyes widened in surprise at the attack, it only sliced the air as he kicked off the ground backwards and landed a few feet away. However, his landing was ruined somewhat when he felt his feet slip from beneath him and he promptly found himself on the frozen ground. He pushed himself up and looked back at his Lieutenant, finally seeing the path of ice that she had spread on the ground pre-emptively.

Ignoring the small laugh that came from the audience, he stood and smirked back at Rukia. "I suppose I wouldn't want to insult you."

She nodded her head and prepared for his attack, happy that he seemed to ready to take this fight a bit more seriously. For all that she loved him, he did have a tenancy to place her a bit too high on his priories sometimes, ignoring the big picture.

"Bankai: Tensa Zangetsu." He said softly, glancing at her once more before his black reiatsu flared up around him, obscuring more than half the arena.

This time the crowd was silent as everyone waited to see the famous captains bankai, rumour having spread that it had changed recently. Not that many people had seen it anyway, since a Catain's bankai was usually something that only came out in times of absolute necessity. Though Ichigo was certainly an exception to that rule, given he had bought it out so much during the war that its form was almost common knowledge.

When the dust cleared Rukia was almost surprised to see that it hadn't changed from when he had first lost control before his trip to Hueco Mundo. The vicious-looking blade still chained to his arm and a few more chains dotted here and there. The only difference was that he appeared to be far more in control this time, which in itself was a relief.

Before she could dash forward and take a pre-emptive strike, his voice reached her.

"Rukia, I'll as you this once. Do you want to fight me?"

She frowned at the question, sure that he already knew the answer. It wasn't a question of what she wanted, but rather what they had to do. Though she knew full well there was some part of her that wanted him to come at her with his full strength so she could prove that she was capable of standing next to him.

"We _are_ fighting." She settled on, readying herself for his assault once more.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to end this quickly." He replied apologetically.

Just as Rukia was about to shout back at him for taking her lightly, the entire arena suddenly became engulfed in pressure, as though a massive hand was pushing it down. Even the Captains found themselves sweating in their seats as it continued to spiral upwards, above and beyond anything they had felt before. Just as the unseated Shinigami started to feel like they'd pass out the pressure vanished, Ichigo's reiatsu simply ceasing to exist.

Even Yamamoto's eyes were open now, staring down at the young Captain who's appearance had suddenly changed along with that burst of reiatsu.

His orange hair had become black and slightly longer, part of a hollow mask sitting on his head. Along with that, one eye had turned a crystal blue, which weirdly complimented his other, amber, eye. His bankai hadn't changed but his entire being now seemed to emanate power, as if daring you to even step closer to him.

Before Rukia even had time to react her blade had been removed from her hands, the scythe dropping to the sand even as he raised his blade to her neck. It was still a good few inches away when he looked up to Yamamoto, his eyes burning.

"Finish the match." He almost commanded.

His own anger boiling away inside him, Yamamoto stared down at the young upstart, not willing to give in just yet. It was only after he looked at their position and judged that the match truly was over that he raised a hand and gave his decision.

"Winner: Ichigo Kurosaki."

As soon as the words had left his mouth Ichigo vanished from the arena, leaving an uncomfortable silence in his wake.

* * *

><p>(AN) Another update, woo! I debated about Ichigo's fight with Rukia for a long time, but I think he'd rather end the fight without hurting her, especially when he'd just got his hands on a power which he isn't even sure he can control.

Once again I'm enjoying the current Bleach arc; it's one of the few manga that tends to have interesting back story in the right places. Other than that this season of anime has a bastard tonne of good ones, if you aren't watching any then I suggest you do!

Thanks for all your support, hope you liked this chapter!


	55. Military machine

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

* * *

><p>The actions of the fifth squad's Captain were the highlight of the tournament by the time it had ended. Perhaps highlight wasn't the right word, but certainly it was the topic of most discussions. From Captain to unseated shinigami everyone was talking about Ichigo's actions, either because of his astonishing power or, more worryingly, about his conflict with Yamamoto. The higher rank you were, the more serious the discussion was – as they knew full well that actions like that could have unintended consequences.<p>

Rebellion, to put it simply.

In reality since moral was quite high after the spectacle, and Ichigo didn't oppose the Captain-Commander in general, there was no danger of that just yet. It was more the issue that if there was ever an issue large enough for Ichigo to attempt to deal with it outside of their rules, he might have accidentally planted the idea that he'd make a better leader than the Captain-Commander. Through that, in the right (or rather, wrong) circumstances, he could be used as the poster boy for a fight he never wanted to start.

With that said, any rebellion would be crushed. With no Captain at their head, there was no chance that any number of unseated Shinigami would ever hope to stand against the Lieutenants and Captains of the gotei 13. More importantly: they knew this too and it was part of the reason why Captains were held in such high regard. As always, the danger lay not in the act itself, but the friction between the cogs of a machine.

If there was too much then something would break; this was inevitable. So naturally the Captains themselves were already considering ways to elevate the tension between two of their most powerful members. The actual results of the competition hadn't yet been announced by the Captain-Commander, much to the dismay of the gather Shinigami. Yet after they'd been assured that it would be no more than a week they'd gone back to their discussions about the aforementioned conflict.

So two Captaincy positions were in the air and there was a very real risk of internal conflict.

"Well, this could become a messy situation very quickly." Shunsui murmured to Ukitake as they sat alone in the, now empty, viewing box.

"Whose bright idea was it then?"

At least, they thought they were alone. The voice of the exiled shopkeeper quickly proved them wrong however and the pair looked up to see him standing in the doorway.

"The Captain-Commander suggested it. Plus, Unohana, Shunsui and I all agreed that he needed to be tested like this." Ukitake said without beating around the bush. He wasn't ashamed that he thought this was necessary, just that the outcome had been so undesirable.

Urahara walked over to the pair and lent against the wall of the viewing platform, his expression neutral. "Given his beliefs, I can't blame you for wanting to put his loyalties to some sort of test..." He trailed off.

"...but we could have done it in a less offensive way." Ukitake finished for him, the thought already having occurred to him.

"Yup, seems like Yamamoto still knows how to make a mess of things every now and then." The exile chuckled.

"It's not just his fault, I feel like we don't know how to treat the kid." Shunsui sighed, feeling that the blame was not solely the Captain-Commanders to hold. "He's done so much in so little time, and then we gave him Captaincy because we were running low on suitable candidates. Yet still he's excelled in that position despite being only a few years out of adolescence. I think he's an amazing kid and that he's already becoming a good Captain but...I worry about how he sees the Gotei 13."

"You don't think he's capable of trusting the abstract notions of law and justice over his own views yet?" Urahara murmured, seeing the issue.

As much as he'd defend Ichigo and the man he'd become – the issue they had was a legitimate concern. Putting his friends above everything might seem like an ideal way to act, but at one point or another you had to step back and consider the big picture. Ichigo may have the power to deal with anything which could be thrown at him right now and save everyone, but that didn't mean that he always would be able too. If the situation arose where he had to chose between the integrity of the Soul-Society and the lives of his friends...as a Captain he at least had to know what he was weighing against his friends.

Not that he was one to talk, seeing as he'd tried to sneak out against orders to save his Lieutenants life. But he'd also had a long period of time in the Stealth Corps, and knew exactly how the Soul-Society operated, more so than normal Shinigami. Ichigo had nowhere near as much experience, and that was the thing which was worrying the older Captains. The younger you were the more likely you were to make mistakes after all...

It was a dilemma. Which wasn't helped at all by the fact that Ichigo was quite a likeable person so it likely made Ukitake and Shunsui feel a bit bad for doubting him. But if anyone could see the flaws of newcomers, then it was them, along with Unohana and Yamamoto.

"I hope for your sake he exceeds your expectations then." Urahara sighed, before vanishing. He figured Yoruichi would want to let of some steam herself after this débâcle.

Ukitake leant back in his chair, his own thoughts somewhat conflicted. Both he and Shunsui had already seen Ichigo blaze past their expectations when they'd been worrying about which side he would chose during the conflict with the Fullbringers. So as much as he was worried about the younger Captain's lack of experience with more political issues, he wanted to believe in him. And he knew that his old friend wanted too was hoping that the next generation would carry the Soul-Society forward, not backwards.

His thoughts on the same lines, Shunsui took a swig from his sake before speaking. "Given how he's handled this kind of thing in the past, I'd like to trust his judgement. Plus, I'm guessing his Lieutenant's going to go a fair way to calming him down." He pointed out, getting a chuckle from Ukitake.

"Rukia's always been fairly level-headed, it was a shame to let her go."

"Yet again you're stuck without a Lieutenant." Shunsui joked, taking another sip from his drink.

"True, but if that has helped their relationship then I'll just have to keep waiting." He replied serenely. He was no stranger to not having a Lieutenant and his 3rd seats had been doing an admirably job for the past few decades.

He could only hope that Ichigo'd have better luck if Rukia was made a Captain.

* * *

><p>At that time Rukia was taking the long trip to find Ichigo after his disappearance, wondering just what state he was going to be in. After the end of the fighting she'd taken the chance to search for his reiatsu, which happened to be half way to the end of Rukongi. She didn't know exactly, but he was certainly quite far away from the Soul-Society judging by the weakness of his energy. Since the chances were that he'd be pumping out even more than usual given what had happened.<p>

His reiatsu flickered for a moment and she phased out of her flash-step, trying to gauge how far she had left to go.

_He can't have gotten that fa-_ She started thinking, only to pause mid-thought. If he'd been moving since their fight he not only had a head start on her but quite a sizable speed advantage.

"Damn you, Ichigo." She grumbled, leaping forward again. This wasn't how she'd envisioned the end of the tournament: having to chase down her wayward Captain who'd decided clashing with the Captain-Commander was a good idea. As much as she appreciated the thought and kindness he showed her, this was yet another time that he'd pushed her behind him rather than letting her try her strength.

Granted, his own exceeded ridiculousness at this point, but she'd still have preferred a proper fight with him – wounds and all – to what she'd got. Yes she'd got away without having to fight him and hurt him (if she could) and she was thankful for that, but...

She simply wanted to prove her own strength.

* * *

><p>In a verdant field surrounded by lush forest a single figure lay amongst the foliage, orange hair swaying slightly in the breeze. The grass was just long enough to hide his body from the view of any passers by – though given the location that was unlikely. This area of Rukongai was less of a living area and more like an untouched piece of nature. Wild flowers had spread and now seemed to float upon their sea of grass, making Ichigo's orange hair that much more unnoticeable.<p>

So here he rested, contemplating the events which he had brought him here. He would have continued to do so if it had not been for the unfortunate fact that, whilst the grass hid his body nicely, it did little to hide his distinctive reiatsu signature. Which explained why he felt someone flash-step into the field despite how remote it was.

Though _who_ came to see him did surprise him somewhat.

"They don't call me the goddess of flash for no reason." Yoruichi reminded him, as if reading his thoughts.

"I didn't think you'd be the first one to come and check-up on me." He replied, closing his eyes against the sun.

She chuckled and sat down cross-legged. "Well as much as you might like to think it's all because of you. A good part of it is just because I know that Kisuke's going to be looking for me for a little stress-rel-"

"I get the picture!" Ichigo choked out as his face exploded in red, not keen to talk about the love-life of his two mentors. They may have fun poking around in his, but that didn't really apply both ways.

"With a reaction like that, I wasted a trip, you seem fine." She smirked, leaning back to place her hands in the tall grass.

There was a comfortable silence between the two as they took in the moment of tranquility after all the conflict which had been going on recently. For her part, the former-exile considered her protege's problem and decided that she could offer him a little help. She may have been bought up in a very different way to him, but that didn't mean she never came into conflict with people above her.

"As the former head of the stealth corps, I'm not exactly ignorant of your situation and that it's going to cause a conflict of emotions in you." She started, figuring that he wouldn't be all that different from any of her new unseated members. They had to be taught the way of the stealth corps; the way of an assassin rather than of a warrior.

Where another squad would charge into battle to avenge a comrade – they should use that death to the greatest advantage they could, to catch their enemy unaware and cut them down through any means. Some found that a very difficult idea to internalize: that honour had no part in their actions. She was rather less adverse to the idea, it was something she'd been brought up with rather than the idea of chasing glory. Though as a princess it wasn't like she was in dire need of that, especially since her skill as a Shinigami granted her the seat of Captain. Even so the modus operandi of the stealth corps was not something the average shinigami found acceptable, rather they found it distasteful.

But the stealth corps would always be necessary. More than that, the stealth corps would always be within yet outside of the gotei 13, standing in the shadow of every other squad with a knife ready for every one of them.

There was always a fail-safe.

But that power that came from being in that unique position was part of the reason she knew, to an extent, what Ichigo could be feeling. Whilst it was true she was never someone who had a problem following orders for such things as deaths, there were always limits to loyalty. And when it was her, who had stood atop the one group which could subvert the Soul-Society entirely, she couldn't afford to cause unrest through her actions.

They were also the ones who dealt with people who did that, after all.

After considering her words carefully she finally continued, not wanting to sound like she was patronizing him at a time like this. "Trust me when I say that I have some idea of what you're going through, and that it won't be the last time something like this happens. Orders will always come through which you might disagree with, the important thing is not to cause a scene like you did."

"I was a bit stupid." Ichigo groaned, his own thought now being confirmed by someone with far more experience in these matters.

"Yup, I'm afraid you need to think about things politically when there are a lot of people around." Yoruichi said with a wave of her hand, not fond of formalities herself. "Especially when you're someone with the power to challenge the Captain-Commander and you're openly fighting with him. It's things like that that can spark a civil war." She said, suddenly becoming more serious.

"I don't want that...the old man shoulda done this in private if he wanted to do it." Ichigo grumbled, his ire at the fight still not having cooled down completely.

"It was a bit of an unwise decision to do it publicly." She agreed, wondering what the thought process had been behind it.

"Bet Byakua had a fit." He finally laughed, trying to picture the nobles face. He imagined it stuck somewhere between disapproval for his rash actions and respect as it was Rukia who he was refusing to fight.

Scratch that, Byakuya tended to look disproving regardless.

"Young Byakuya's probably dying to give you a lecture on the subject." She agreed, though she remembered the time when the boy was all too impulsive himself. "You know he used to be even more rash and angry than you?"

"I'm not angry!" Ichigo corrected with a little more force than was necessary, making Yoruichi give him a skeptical look.

"Uhuh..."

"Shut up." he grumbled, before returning to the matter at hand. "And there's no way Byakuya was ever anything but an arrogant little-"

"You think you know better than me now?" Yoruichi asked playfully, halting the young man in his tracks.

"...I thought women didn't like playing the age card." He sighed, getting a chuckle in response.

"Well I know I'm still quite young and limber." She teased with a wink. "But compared to most of us, Rukia included, you've had a lot less experience in the politics of the Soul-Society. Whether you like it or not that's going to be something you need to consider now, but don't fret too much about it. There's a reason I decided to give you a hand when they initiate you as the Shihoin clan leader."

"An here I thought I'd have to deal with less of this stuff when I became a Captain." Ichigo mused, his anger having shrunk to irritation now.

"From the Soul-Society's standpoint you were pretty much a wild-card, so the Captain-Commander being able to keep tabs on you is ideal." She said matter-of-factly, knowing that Soi-fon likely had received orders prior to his Captaincy to keep tabs on him. Rogue elements had to be purged after all.

"You know why he did it, right?" Yoruichi asked, looking over to him.

"To make sure I was loyal." Ichigo ground out, disliking the very notion that his loyalty was being questioned. Especially after he had been so involved in the Aizen incident, it irked him that Yamamoto still had doubts about him.

"Well yes and no." Yoruichi said, causing him to turn his head.

"What do you mean?"

"The Captain-Commander knows you are loyal, that's been proven again and again." She started to explain, once more considering the similarities of what she was doing now and her old position. "It's not your loyalty that he wants to prove, but for you to prove who or what you are loyal too."

"Of course it's to the Soul-Society!" He exclaimed, becoming more agitated.

"Is it?"

"Wha-"

"I mean, don't you place your friends higher on your priority list than the Soul-Society's well-being?" Yoruichi asked, seeing his confused expression. "That's why he made you fight Rukia, who he knows you are intimate with, to have you understand the difference between loyalty to your friends and to a structure. I'm guessing that was also why he did it publicly come to think of it."

"We haven't been _that_ intimate." Ichigo muttered with a blush, which quickly subsided when he considered her words. "But I AM loyal to the Soul-Society, he can't expect me to ignore my friends and family because of that can he?!"

"I don't think anyone expects you of all people to do that." She said, attempting to diffuse his anger a bit. "But you know as well as anyone that the gotei 13 are a military force; when there's a situation he wants to know that you will consider the big picture as well as just your friends safety."

"Stupid old man." Ichigo growled, surprising Yoruichi somewhat.

"Look, Ichigo, as much as I agree with you-"

"Not that. I was never going to forget everyone else, just because they're not even in my squad that doesn't mean they're worth any less." He said stubbornly, remembering his conversation with Rukia when he first agreed to become a substitute Shinigami.

It would never be enough to protect only the people around him, as much as they had priority. No, it was a mountain-load of people that he had said then, and that mountain had only continued to grow as his powers and ability to protect had grown. The big picture may still be not something he was constantly looking at, but he was at least aware that there were sometimes issues that were larger than they seemed.

Aizen had taught him that well.

"Well you better remember to tell him that." His mentor grinned. "But it doesn't change the fact that you handled the situation poorly considering the situation."

"Is it really okay for an exile to lecture me?" The Captain complained jokingly.

"I made the best decision I could to protect the most people, and the best chance we had against a threat which the Soul-Society didn't even know existed. Plus I'm your family now so I can lecture you all I like." She smirked, enjoying the sour expression on his face.

"What is it with people and lecturing me."

"Speaking of, I'll be going now. Kisuke's going to be in a sulk and you have company." She said before giving him a smack on the head and vanishing in a lightning-fast flash-step.

In the same instant another spiritual pressure seemed to burst into life, instantly drawing Ichigo's attention away from Yoruichi. For a moment he wondered why he couldn't sense Rukia before, but soon realized why.

"She masked Rukia's spiritual pressure with her own...tch." He muttered, cursing the ex-Captain under his breath.

"You've calmed down now, right?" Rukia asked sarcastically, walking across the field towards him.

"I-uh, you got here quickly." He said, trying to change the subject.

"Well, I have been training as you well know." She replied with pride, reaching his side. Only to raise her foot over him and bring it down hurtling downwards towards his chest. Ichigo opened his eyes just in time to see it and realize that he didn't really have time to roll out of the way...

Only for it to slam into the ground inches from his chest.

"Fight me."

"What?!" Ichigo exclaimed, his confused eyes staring up into her serious ones.

"You heard me, Ichigo. You may have delayed it but we're due a proper fight, you won't deny me this, will you?"

The young Captain paused, unsure of how he should react to this situation. His heart was telling him that this was Rukia, the woman he loved, how could he fight her? How could he stand with his blade ready to cut into her risk her life his any way by his own hands...it wasn't something that bared thinking about.

But his brain could see what she wanted.

Recognition.

You can could call it slightly selfish if you were particularly cynically minded, but the simple fact was that everyone wanted to me recognized by someone. Rukia had already been recognized by her brother, who'd permitted her to become a Lieutenant when she displayed her overwhelming skill to him. He hadn't continued to push her back and clip her wings under the guise of protection – because that was only part of what he felt. Ichigo knew because he felt the same thing when she stood against him.

It was fear.

Fear that she would be hurt, that something -anything, might happen that could take her away from him. But there was a fine line between being scared for her safety in a rational sense and not trusting her own abilities. He knew this. It was a flaw in his character he'd been working on, this over protectiveness, for Rukia always seemed to have faith in his ability to come back alive one way or another.

This was her ultimatum: she would show him her ability one-on-one so that he too could take a step back. So that they could stand together as they moved towards their future; for it was theirs. Before the final union between the two of them, she would force him to recognize her skill as a shinigami (not that he hadn't already seen it in some ways). That final line between the two of them would be dashed by the sharp edge of their blades and the unyielding will which burned at their cores.

The will to prove themselves to each other.

The will to stand together.

That is what drove them to fight.

"We better find a more desolate are than." Ichigo grinned, his previous anger at Yamamoto smothered by excitement.

Yes, this is how a fight between them should start.

* * *

><p>(AN)  
>Mmm this was a bit of a pain to write. I feel like it's been so long that I've become worse at writing Rukia -.-, I always found her the hardest character in Bleach to write, she's so very complex. Either way I hope you enjoyed this (rather late) update. I couldn't see Rukia taking too kindly to not being taking seriously in a competition of skill.<p>

In other Bleach news, my favorite character in the new arc is Bambietta: I adore my strong and psychopathic characters. Females especially, I just can't hate them...I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about this arc but I'm personally enjoying it a lot. But I'm not generally that critical of Bleach since there's no massive flaws for me.

Either way, hope you enjoyed this little chapter! Thank you for all the people who have continued to review this story!


	56. Blades for Play

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

(A/N) **M rating** because of this chapter, I'd say it's tasteful, but this is fair warning.

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><p><em>Blades Opposed, they strike as one.<br>Negatives bound through a timeless bond,  
>To strike, defend,<br>Preserve, challenge._

_One silhouette against the sun,_  
><em>The other, halo'd by a blinding moon.<em>  
><em>They reach, retract,<em>  
><em>Grasp, surrender.<em>

_Yet always their hearts will search for each other._

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><p>A wordless acknowledgement passed between the Captain and Lieutenant as their eyes met, blades already drawn. This was not to be some training exercise, where one would dance around the other and it'd end with a bruised ego at worst. For now, skin was a necessary sacrifice for the release of any wound up stress that might be lurking around. Be the cause each other or anything else, this was not combat – no, that was not an accurate description of the fight which was fast approaching. It was something helpful, something playful and yet far more serious than anything they would do before their peers.<p>

Therapeutic might be a good word.

And so the path to relaxation started with a sandalled shoe being pounded into the dirt and the tell-tale sound of a flash-step. Rukia was which quick to react after Ichigo had taken the offensive, dropping down to dodge the high swing and quickly retorting with her own blade. The Zanpakutou sliced through the air almost silently, sharp edge racing towards Ichigo's gut.

But her partner had his teacher's reputation to uphold and quickly flashed away from her, landing on one foot a couple of meters away before instantly vanishing again, taking advantage of her momentary unbalance. His strike missed her by only a fraction of an inch, ripping a hole into her shihakusho as she pulled her arm backwards. But still she didn't move out of close range, for now was when her risk paid off and she thrust her blade forward once again.

As quickly as that first blood was drawn.

But there was no rest, no time to stop and give the scratch undeserved attention, his sword was already knocking hers away and preparing to jab forward. Spotting his opportunity the Captain didn't hesitate to try and take it, but found his blade stopped just inches from his target.

Two sets of impassioned eyes locked over the grinding pieces of metal which fought for dominance between them. Each and every of the slight imperfections in the blades adding to the harmonious screech which the Zanpakutou were screaming at each other. They could feel the will of their wielders behind them; boundless, unrelenting – A clamorous roar of adrenaline which swept them towards this loving conflict.

A shower of sparks blinked in and out of existence as Ichigo took advantage of his own overwhelming power to shove Rukia's blade upwards, twisting his own midair to bring it back down. But his efforts were rewarded with a sharp kick to his stomach which knocked him backwards and threw him off for a moment.

Rukia took the chance to take the offensive, blade in one hand and the other outstretched towards him.

"Hado no.4: Byakurai!"

Her brother's favorite spell shot out of her finger like a bolt of lightning, tendrils of light arcing out of it for the briefest of moments as it flew towards its target. Yet all it found was the hard earth as it exploded into the ground, the flash of light revealing the area to be empty. Rukia's eyes widened in shock and she immediately tried to change course, digging her foot into the ground and flash-stepping to a right-angle of her previous destination.

"Too slow." She heard behind her, before a sharp pain cut into her shoulder as she tried to escape the inevitable attack which Ichigo had planned out.

Yet even as she felt the blade's cold edge cut deeper into her shoulder she prepared for her own counter-attack, not about to let her lover had the advantage for long. It came in the form of a sequence of sharp redirections, landing just long enough for the sound to be heard before she vanished again and appeared inches behind him. But that wouldn't be enough and she was on the move before he had the chance to react, hopping upwards and spinning upside-down so as to kick off the air and catch him by surprise.

She lunched earthwards like a missile, satisfied when she felt her blade receive it's own blood money for a few seconds until Ichigo manage to get his limb out of her path. The vulnerability her move had put her in was suddenly made obvious when she let out a grunt of pain as a powerful strike from her Captain's leg quickly moved her out of close-combat range.

But as quickly as she was pushed away she came back, her blade dancing as she attempted to find a weakness in her Captains guard. He wasn't having any of that and pushed back with his own attacks, the pair alternating between attack and defense as their blades traced deadly arcs around the small clearing they were in. There was no quarter being given, with each attack aimed to disable or distract the opponent to prepare for a more deadly strike.

It was because they trusted in each other's skill that they could fight this way. With seemingly reckless abandon for the others well-being; at least this one time, full in the knowledge that their attacks would contact only the air more often than not.

A fact demonstrated when Ichigo made to strike into her leg, aiming to disable her and shut down her mobility for the rest of the fight. In an impressive display of speed, Rukia hopped backwards, the blade just grazing her shins as she made her own counter-attack: a slash aimed at his sword hand.

"Hado: 31. Shakkahou!" The fiery red blast forced the fighting couple away from each other, scorch marks searing the earth.

In the aftermath of the explosion, the only sounds which could be heard were two sets of heavy breathing, both hidden by the dense fog of dust which had clouded the area. But one of the combatants wasn't too fond of obscured vision, so with a mighty burst of reiatsu the clearing was once again made clear – revealing a rather satisfied looking Ichigo.

"That kidou was impressive, if a bit uncontrolled." Rukia teased, the grip on her blade never faltering.

Ichigo waved a hand at her dismissively and rested his own katana on his shoulder. "I don't have a habit of using explosive kidou at close range..." He paused and reconsidered his words.

"Cero's don't count."

His Lieutenant snorted derisively. "Please, that's just because you can't blow yourself up with a cero."

"So they must be better!" Ichigo argued with a smirk. "But trust me, you _can_ blow yourself up with one, it's just much harder."

"Will you be demonstrating that for me?"

"Maybe you'd prefer to see a successful version first." He asked, pulling his blade of his shoulder and raising a hand to his lover.

"You think I've been a Shinigami this long and don't know how to deal with a Cero, Ichigo?" Rukia asked with her own small smirk, feeling the battle gearing-up to restart.

Which it did.

"Let's find out, Rukia."

As soon as the red ball started growing in his hand she spun her blade, the temperature of the air around her plummeting. Ichigo watched as she muttered an unheard command and her blade shifted into it's shikai form, white ribbon trailing after it. But the Cero continued on-wards regardless with the singular purpose to erase all that stood in its way, be they Shinigami, Hollow or other. Rukia's eyes shifted up to the attack and in an instant she made for successive jabs into the ground. The white ball of energy formed at the tip of her blade and with another command Hakuren burst out of her blade, an avalanche of snow driving forward to meet the cero mere meters from her location.

The red energy made light work of the snow at first, but the snow only got thicker and all too soon it reached critical mass – the attack exploding and bathing the area in a hellish red light. Ichigo watched with wide eyes, sensing Rukia's reiatsu moments later and cursing.

Even as he moved the attack he'd expected tore upwards, Sode no Shirayuki's 'tsukishiro catching one of his legs in ice and rooting him in position for just a moment. But that was all Rukia needed and her blade cut into his arm as he moved to get his sword in a position to defend himself.

Ichigo growled at the ruse, annoyed that he'd stopped to check if she was okay, he should have known that an attack of that level wasn't likely to catch her unawares. Feeling the blade continue to cut into his arm as he twisted his body backwards, he reverted to his default tactic and Rukia was blown backwards yet again as reiatsu poured out of his body, his blade shifting into shikai and the ice around him shattering in the process.

Wordlessly he raised the giant cleaver, his reiatsu making the blade glow a vicious black as he prepared to strike back.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" He finally roared, the monstrous attack freed from his blade and ripping up the ground in its haste to reach its target.

His target danced away from the attack and was upon him in a moment, blade practically singing as she swiped at him. He parried the attack and countered with one of his own, taking a step forward to pressure her. But she wasn't willing to give up her offence yet. So the two fought for dominance in an ever more destroyed plot of land somewhere in Rukongai, each Getsuga or Tsukishiro leaving another scar on the landscape as the pair made a mess of their arena.

For her part, Rukia was enjoying the fight. It wasn't something she did often since she didn't really enjoy fighting in the same way that someone like Kenpachi did (not that many people did to that extent) but this was more than that. This was a challenge between the two of them and that was something which forced adrenaline through her system and made her brain work twice as fast. Every action he made was analysed as best she could and every muscle was working like a machine, keeping her away from his deadly blade whilst trying to keep him in range of hers.

She didn't want to hurt him, that would just be...ridiculous. But given their own abilities she could free herself, if only temporarily, from some of the constraint she showed in their usual sparring matches. Given his actions she could safely assume that he was doing the same, since the usual Ichigo would never have thrown an attack that strong at her.

She stopped her thoughts to dodge a particularly vicious swing which he made, a Getsuga wrapped around his blade as though it were clothed in black fire. Trying to gain control of the situation, she hopped backwards and started creating a rapid succession of frozen pillars. The columns pierced the sky for just a moment, before there was an almighty crash as Ichigo released the Getsuga on his blade. The attack smashed through the bases and as one the pillars toppled to the ground. Without hesitation Ichigo rushed out of the icy cloud and the battle continued; two wills battering against each other.

After a time the battle came to a head when, with their final release's in their hands they slammed against each other – blowing away the debris around them. Rukia's double bladed scythe creaked as it fought against her Captains immovable blade, both Zanpakutou completely in-sync with their wielders. Ichigo's spiritual pressure only continued to rise as he pushed his blade down on hers, all the time forcing himself to keep his power in check.

If he went all out and bought his hollow into the frey then...he didn't want to think about the consequences.

"Still think you've got a chance?" He taunted good-naturedly, feeling her reiatsu pulse angrily in response.

"Of course, you've still got a weakness, _Captain._"

"And you think you can exploit it before the fight is over?" He asked, pressing down even herder to finish the fight.

"I do." Rukia smirked, letting go of her weapon and rolling to one side. The blade hit the ground and seemed to melt into it, frost instantly grabbing Ichigo's legs and holding him in place for the couple of seconds Rukia needed.

Distracted by the painful chill which was had started to burn his legs, Ichigo glanced downwards for just a moment. Only to find that a more pleasurable sensation distracted him from the cold. A warm, gently caress of his lips which made his brain stumble as he recognized Rukia's body before him. Her eyes, her hair, her skin, her warmth, her scent, her taste; they started to flood into his brain and – running on adrenaline – he responded to it by pushing back against her.

He didn't notice the ice around his legs start to thaw, nor her hand slip towards his own blade. It wasn't until a sudden chill alerted him to her actions and he looked down to see his right hand frozen to hers – his blade held between them.

For a moment he just started at the appendages, the lingering warmth on his lips still fogging his mind somewhat.

"That's cheating." He finally grumbled, shifting his arm experimentally.

"Really? I think your mentors would approve of my masterful use of my feminine charms." Rukia boasted with a smug expression.

"Urahara or- actually they're both as bad as each other." Ichigo sighed, wondering if Byakuya would think they were corrupting his sister. No doubt he'd find his own way to blame Ichigo too, though it was hard to tell when the man was really angry.

It was hard for people that frosty to give people the cold shoulder.

"So, that's that-"

"Oh no, this is just the start of another fight." Ichigo chuckled darkly, Rukia giving him an odd look.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll let you figure that out yourself." Ichigo muttered, moving his arm backwards so that she was pulled closer to him and catching her in an embrace, wasting no time in continuing the kiss they had been engaged it before.

Never let it be said that Ichigo wasn't a competitive man, so if she was going to claim victory through doing something like...that. Then he'd just have to prove that he could beat her at that as well.

Rukia quickly accepted the situation and relaxed into his arms, running her own up his back pulling herself closer to him. Her body was still buzzing with adrenaline and every nerve-ending felt like it was on fire. Ever spot where he touched her seemed to burn as he cupped her face in one hand, using the other to pull her body closer to him. Even through the thick shihakusho the two could feel each other's hearts pounding, bodies heating up at the close contact. Even as their reiatsu died down their passion soared an explosion of restrained feelings threatening to down logical thought in the tidal wave it created.

Though at this point they seemed quite happy to be swept away in it.

Lips pressed against each other and mouths were split open by ravenous tongues which desperately searched for the taste they desired. Ichigo tilted his head to try and gain more access and Rukia responded in kind, allowing each other to fully indulge in the kiss. Struggling to keep what little control he had the younger man tried in vain to consider what they were doing before his lovers gently tongue caused him to simply throw his cares to the wind for the moment.

Rukia was still somewhat bemused by the whole experience, since it was rare that they ever kissed this...passionately. This was like every suppressed dirty thought and action she would normally never be bold enough to even consider was being pulled upwards and was oh so achievable. Right here, all alone. She may not be experienced but it wasn't like she was ignorant of just what the pair of them could do.

And she was struggling to think of a reason why they shouldn't.

Tentatively, despite her pounding heart she lowered a hand to touch his muscled chest, running her hand over a series of light scars in the process. For just a moment she was reminded that a little higher on his chest she'd find the scar that her brother left on him, both of them, just before he was left lying out in the cold. As if to dissuade the voice she flattened her hand completely against his skin, taking a moment to simply feel his heartbeat. Her lips stilled for just a moment and Ichigo looked down at her, his own hands pausing in their ministrations. The moment only lasted for a couple of seconds before she looked up, her eyes ablaze as every fiber of her being reminded her her of one single fact.

'_He's alive'_

And he was hers. So her lips reconnected with his and the hand continued it's slow caress, tracing a path downwards to hover around his waist. Ichigo flinched, so surprised that the pair of them fell to the ground in a mass of black cloth and limbs. Large hand found silky black hair and small hands steadied themselves for a moment before diving back at the body beneath them. Surprisingly quickly Ichigo found himself half-way out of his shihakusho, the garb held on only by the white obi at the waist.

Rukia bought her lips back down to his and Ichigo marveled at their softness once again, her tongue making it hard for him to think about anything else. There were three sensations which were busy assaulting his senses: her lips on his, her hands on him and the soft grass tickling the back of his neck the whole time.

If the two of them weren't capable of sensing if anyone came even remotely close then this might be a hundred times more risky.

Not that either of them were thinking of that at the moment.

With a sudden burst of courage Ichigo reached up and moved to push her shihakusho off her shoulders, hesitating briefly when he grasped the bit of cloth on her shoulder. She straightened her back at his actions, seeing what he wanted and thinking it was only fair. Her checks flushed red with embarrassment as she did so but moments later she was straddling him wearing only the bindings around her breasts, her shihakusho joining his around her waist. Still she knew this wasn't enough, especially if the romance novels from both worlds were to be believed. So, her fingers trembling with a mix of anticipation, excitement and embarrassment, she began to slowly unwrap her bindings.

A blush rose and consumed Ichigo's cheeks as he watched, unable to look away – his eyes transfixed on the erotic scene. Though that word may be doing their actions a disservice, considering it was only natural.

The moment which seemed like it lasted an eternity was followed by the seemingly instantaneous reveal as the final part of the bindings fell away, revealing her chest to the air. Rukia fought the temptation to cover her breasts with her hands, instead grasping the material around her waist tightly and looking away as she struggled to come to terms with the situation. She could feel the wind brush against her ever so lightly, her skin still hyper sensitive and aching for Ichigo's touch.

For his part, Ichigo was entranced by the figure before him. His eyes travelled upwards from her partly discarded shihakusho, the crumbled clothes starting the scene which then led into the stretch of inviting yet tense skin, ever so slightly toned by years of physical training. Further up her heavy, excited breaths were causing her chest to expand and contract in a noticeable, arousing fashion. All this led to her soft bosom which rose from her chest as two small mounds, topped with pink peaks which stood erect.

For once in his life, he was speechless.

It was then that Rukia finally turned her gaze back to him, her cheeks flushed with desire and small droplets of sweat pin-pricked on her skin, adding to her attractive appearance. Slowly, ever so slowly, Ichigo started to move his hands, running them up the curve of her stomach to the -just noticeable- ridges of her ribs. He paused when he reached them, steeling himself for the final push into unknown territory.

In that clearing, miles away from anyone, the two of them finally consummated their love. When he later looked back on it, Ichigo could only describe it as a blur of pleasure and rough grass, yet simultaneously one of the most crystal clear memories of his life. Every twitch she gave at his touch, every muffled moan which she let out in response, every time her chest heaved from...him. All of them were filed away for future use, the young man starting to try and figure out how he could best please her. Not that either of them had been complaining by the end...but he'd always been called a quick learner and if he could make her feel better he would.

Not that it was all roses and ecstasy. Rukia's small frame made the initial penetration slightly more painful that it might otherwise had been but in the moment just after all she could feel beside the pain was Ichigo's soothing reiatsu washing over her, his comforting words and gentle hands. Soon enough she had managed to forget the pain and join with him completely. She could only describe herself now as...satisfied. Sure, her body ached and she imagined she'd be in for a rough ride tomorrow, but here, now, in the afterglow of releasing what seemed like years worth of sexual tension.

She was happy.

The wind picked up ever so slightly and she curled into Ichigo, the larger man pulling her closer to him to try and warm her up with his own body. Right now they only had two discarded Shihakusho's for cover, and it was getting late.

"We should be getting back soon." He mumbled, watching as the sky started to dip from blue to amber and the clouds lazily drifted westward. Despite what he said he knew neither of them were in a hurry, especially since he was quite far out at the moment.

"I don't think we'd get back before nightfall." Rukia argued feebly, knowing that he was right.

"Well I guess we'll be running in the dark then."

Rukia glared up at him from her position on his chest, letting him know exactly what she thought of that idea. The mere concept of using flash-step at the moment sounded agonizing, if the dull ache in her pelvis was anything to go by at least. Plus she still had a dozen smaller wounds from their fight which she'd have to get healed and after all that she wasn't even sure she could muster up the energy to get back.

At least not without it feeling like running a marathon...after a set of intense exercise.

"Fine, fine..." Ichigo sighed, struggling to try and think of an alternative. It was odd to think his hardest decision as a Captain today was how to get his Lieutenant home after a bout of fierce sparring. At least that was what he planned to tell anyone who asked, they had the wounds to prove it at least.

Suddenly, an idea sprang into his mind and he grinned down at Rukia.

"We're around the 67th district right?"

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><p>(AN) There, the reason this story is rated M I suppose xD This chapter would have been out sooner but I struggled with how to write this section for a long time, since I have a very set way of how I think sex should be written. In general I don't want it to be too erotic because this isn't an erotic story, it's just a story with sex in it, but at the same time I don't want to skirt around the issue. Because, well, of course sex is erotic. So I settled on this nice medium and I hope you enjoy it, not much actual talking in this chapter...actions speak louder than words in this case, ne?

To quickly clarify, I don't mind if other people write it differently (depends on the context of the story) but this is my preferred method.

Sorry this took so long, I've been drawing more than writing and overall being a bit lazy. But I have had a few things to worry about recently though they'll take a back seat when I go back to uni soon. Either way I look forward to your comments and hope you enjoyed the story as always!


	57. A Bright Future

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

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><p>The call had finally gone out for the Captains to to gather for the results of the fierce competition which had been the cause of so much excitement. Once more the Sereitei was abuzz with anticipation, more so than usual as this time the majority of the Shinigami had actually witnessed the possible Captains in action. Every squad had noticed when their Captains and Lieutenants had left the barracks together, so they now waited to see what the results were.<p>

In the Captain's hall itself, the air was just as tense as outside, if not more so. Even the older Captains who'd seen many Captains come and go had become somewhat entertained by the excitement in the air. Normally it'd be down to only a few Captains and the Captain-Commander after they'd seen the results of the Captaincy exam. The rest of the Shinigami, Captains included, would only know who the new Captain was when they were initiated as the Captain of whatever squad it was. There were rare exceptions, such as the old rule of becoming a Captain by defeating another in combat and the case of Ichigo Kurosaki – which was decided in light of his past actions rather than giving him a pointless test.

"This has really got the place buzzing, ne?" Kyoraku chuckled, nudging his long time friend.

"Well, it's not exactly the usual – my third seats have been beside themselves." Ukitake smiled, getting another chuckle in response.

"I can see why, you should be more excited about this, Nanao." The Captain practically whined, glancing at where his Lieutenant was standing behind him.

"I'm as interested as the next person, Captain." She replied primly, used to her Captains childish actions.

She also wasn't about to divulge that the SWA was planning on a special about the new Captains as soon as they'd been announced by the Captain-Commander. Especially since she'd caught Hisagi's eye as they went into the room and she knew that he'd have the same idea. It wasn't often that their publications came into direct competition, but both knew that this would be an ideal time to make some money. The tattooed Lieutenant gave her a nod and moved over to start conversation with Komamura, one of the few Captains he felt he could openly talk to.

"Maybe if you drank a little sake you'd feel the excit-" The older Captain tried, for the billionth time, to offer her a drink. Alas, he always received the same answer.

"I'm fine, but thank you for the offer." She sighed, sending him a look that only a long suffering subordinate could know of.

"You won't drink, Ichigo won't drink, what are today's youth coming too." Kyouraku melodramatically lamented, looking to his long time friend for support. Ukitake smiled his as he usually did and put his hand on his friends flowery Kimono.

"Maybe they saw you and decided against it?" He said, in such a kind voice that it only hurt all the more.

Kyouraku froze as Nanao forced herself not to laugh, knowing that the only thing stopping her Captain from moping to a bar was that the Captain-Commander had asked them all to be there – and going to a bar was not an adequate excuse. Instead Kyouraku looked around for someone he could go and whine too to try and cheer himself up.

"I didn't know you could be so cruel, Juushirou." He sniffed, playing it up for all he could.

Ukitake blinked. "Cruel?" Maybe Rukia had been right when she'd said that sarcasm wasn't his forte. Then again she'd also said that it was considered the lowest form of wit in the human world, so perhaps he just didn't understand it as well as he though.

Before the comedy show could continue, the large doors swung open and Yamamoto walked through, Unohana following close behind him and Sasakibe on his other side. It wasn't all that common to see the Lieutenant of the first squad at meetings even when the Lieutenants where asked to attend: mainly because the Captain-Commander would tell him the contents and he'd already be doing what needed to be done. The fact that the Lieutenants where here at all for the initiation of two Captains was amazing, in recent years they'd been allowed more and more access to events such as these – which previously were reserved for only Captains.

Though the older Captains had a sneaking suspicion that there was a good reason for the Lieutenants to be there for this initiation in particular.

All traces of his foolish faced gone, Kyoraku nodded at the 11th squad Captain and took his place in line, Nanao following after him. By the time the Captain-Commander had reached his position all of the Captains were in their proper place, save for three empty spaces that stood out quite noticeably. Two could obviously be accounted for, but the third...

"Where is Captain Kurosaki?" Yamamoto asked gruffly, and was met with a silence as his gaze travelled around the room.

Luckily, his answer came moments later when Ichigo flung the doors open, looking more than a little flustered and out of breath. Rukia arrived just after looking slightly more dignified but still a little out of it, both of them mumbled an apology and moved to take their place, ignoring the looks which they were getting: some amused, some curious...and one deathly glare. Yamamoto simply gave a mental sigh and hoped that as the two grew older they'd learn some discretion, he wouldn't address the issue now but if it became a problem then questions would have to be asked.

Right now he doubted he could make the young lovers feel much more uncomfortable than they already did.

After waiting a few seconds for everything to settle down he looked up and addressed the collected Captains and Lieutenants.

"As I'm sure you all know, the event which we held was unprecedented in our history as a method of selecting Captains. However, the betrayal we suffered was equally as unprecedented. The mark of these traitors has stained the ranks of the Seireitei far too long, so now I will announce the two who will take their places among us." He stopped after his speech, waiting for a moment for the gathered Shinigami to absorb the information.

It may as well have been a pause for dramatic effect. The Captains were all listening for who their new comrades would be, who would be next to make their mark on a thousand years of tradition. The Lieutenants were waiting to see if it would be any of them who would take their place in the highest position possible – to do something only one in a million, no, one in a hundred million, could do.

To be a Captain.

Yamamoto took a breath through his nose and glanced around the room, his gaze invisible behind his wrinkled, ancient, eyelids. He had not meant for this to be an event this dramatic, but in some ways he could understand their anticipation.

"Rukia Kuchiki, step forward."

The words hung in the air like a black hole, drawing everyone's attention to them, none more so than the woman herself. The tension was like nothing she had ever felt before: even when she'd gone to a noble party for the first time, when she'd told her brother about her and Ichigo's relationship, when Hisana had come back. Some how this moment was so all-encompassing that everything else faded from her mind.

She shared a single glance with Ichigo, Byakuya and Renji as she blinked a few times to clear her head, then stepped forward, turning to face the Captain-Commander. The old man looked over his selection once again, reminding himself why he had chosen her when there had been more powerful choices available to him. More experienced choices.

Potential.

For the first time in a long time he'd looked ahead of him and seen that his time would eventually be over as Captain-Commander. The Seireitei had changed to much in the last few years in so many ways, fantastic, amazing ways. It, despite the constant threat of death by a hollow their soldiers faced, felt livelier than ever. Or perhaps that he felt more involved now that they'd had to face a problem as large as the had. Whatever the cause he had realized that whilst he was still unchallenged, he was also a relic.

It wasn't self-depreciation, it was the truth: he was someone who'd stood his ground for over a thousand years without budging. But it wasn't a thousand years ago and more and perhaps it was time that he looked to what he could do with the new potential that hat sprouted all around him. He was already watching Ichigo closely so as he could make sure the young man developed properly, but he wasn't the only one.

Kuchiki, Rukia Kuchiki: she had potential. Had the potential to be a major player in the long line of soul society Captains. He should know, he'd been there to accept them all into their folds,

"I offer you the post as Captain of the third squad. Do you accept?"

The question that didn't need to be asked, yet had to be asked. Rukia took a deep breath and looked up at him with eyes full of determination.

"I accept, Captain-Commander Yamamoto." She said, bowing to him as she finished.

When she rose she saw him hold out his hand and have a Haori given to him by his Lieutenant, and then proceed to hold it out to her. Hands almost trembling, she took it from him with both hands and bowed her had again.

"Thank you, Captain-Commander." She said from the bottom of her heart, not expecting a response. Indeed, she didn't receive one and summarily took her new place in the hall: standing to the right of Ichigo between him and the Captain-Commander himself.

In one swift movement, born from years of training as a noble, she pulled the Haori over her arms and returned to a posture of attentiveness, masking the excitement and pride she felt just as her friends and family were also doing. The one who was failing to do so most was Ichigo, who could only just contain the twitches of his lips every now and then that she'd managed to achieve her goal.

"The new 9th squad Captain will enter in a moment." The old man said simply, making everyone wonder who it was if it wasn't one of those who'd entered the tournament. Surely that'd been the point of having one?

Renji forced himself not to react to the news, yet couldn't hide the nagging his his head that needed to know why he hadn't been chosen. He was happy for Rukia, but that didn't make it any harder that after all this time he still hadn't reached his goal of being someone who could stand against Byakuya. The original meaning for doing so may now be moot, but it was still the goal that drove him forward to new heights, to catch up with the man forever in front of him. He, at the very least, wanted to be someone which his Captain could consider an equal on some level – though he would never be a noble.

So he'd be lying to himself if he wasn't disappointed, mostly in himself as he wondered why the Captain-Commander had chosen Rukia over him. What would his Captain think? Rukia was his sister and he surely wanted her to succeed, but would he be disappointed that his Lieutenant had been bested by his sister and some unknown newcomer?

Before his worried thoughts could truly take shape, the large doors opened and a familiar face walked in with a toothy grin on them.

"You know, there was a time when I never wanted to set foot in the Seireitei again...how times change, right, Ichigo?"

"Shinji?!" The young Captain replied in shock, his eyes widening when he saw the Vizard who had trained him and in all honesty saved his life.

"Long time, no see." He drawled, glancing from Ichigo to Rukia. "Looks like you've finally figured out your feelings, eh?"

Ichigo blushed slightly and coughed, changing the subject rather than responding to the bait.

"How are things with Hiyori and the others?" He questioned, getting an uninformative shrug for a response.

"Good thanks, but more importantly to make sure it stays that way we thought that we needed to have a little more pull in the Gotei 13." He grinned again and returned his gaze to the Captain-Commander, his expression not giving anything away.

Slowly the reinstated Captain walked up until he stood before Yamamoto, their positions similar to his first initiation but their situation now completely different. One was a Captain who had been exiled on false charges and forced to hide for years on end – the other was the person who'd given that order. It most situations this would have resulted in more than a little animosity between the two, but this one had one overriding factor.

Neither of them were the cause of Shiji's exile. That man sat in his perfect prison, able to reflect on the lives he'd damaged for centuries to come.

"Hirako Shinji, I cannot offer you command over your old squad, instead I offer you command over the 9th Squad. Do you accept?"

"That's why I'm here." The Vizard answered straight away, staring straight up at Yamamoto. With a nod of his head, the older Shinigami presented the Haori, which was swiftly donned by the new Captain of the 9th squad and ex-Captain of the 5th squad.

Shinji wordlessly took his place in the lineup: for the first time in a while the hall was full of Captains and Lieutenants. The Captain-Commander looked over his officers and raised his voice one final time.

"Those gathered here are the example by which all Shinigami will aspire, we must continue to lead them forward and save the souls of humanity. With that, you are dismissed – the Captains of the 3rd and 9th Squads will now introduce themselves to their members." As simply as that the meeting was over and Yamamoto left the room, the Captains and Lieutenants also filing out to congregate outside the large hall.

Almost as soon as they left the hall Renji stopped with a frown, again pondering over how he had been looked over as a potential Captain. However, his musings didn't last long as he heard a voice behind him and turned to see his own Captain looking at him with a carefully blank expression on his face.

"Lieutenant Abarai." He said simply, not blind to what he imagined Renji to be feeling.

"Yes, sir?" The Lieutenant asked, wondering what he was about to be told. In truth, in all his time spent as the Lieutenant of the 6th squad he'd still never been able to decipher his Captains poker face.

"In the arena I saw that you had improved your control of our bankai – would it be prudent for me to test it myself?" His words were official and businesslike, but there was a hidden message which surprised the Lieutenant.

'_I will spar with you, if you like.'_

"Yes, Sir." He answered with a grin, this time more confident. That's right, being a Captain was never what he really needed, it was just assurance. What he needed was to fight with his Captain and win, to stand equally with him on the field of combat. Would he still feel disappointed if there were no Captaincy slots open? Would he mentally grumble until one of his comrades finally fell and then jump at their place?

No. He would continue to train, continued to improve his skills until he could raise Zabimaru with pride and challenge his Captain. He didn't feel the same as Ikkaku, who only wanted to fight alongside Kenpachi – no, he wanted to test his skills _against_ Byakuya.

Speaking of which, the tall Captain of the 11th squad had made a be-line for Shinji and seemed to be trying to get him into a fight, no doubt aware of his powers as a hollow. However, Shinji was having none of it and beat a leisurely retreat with his new Lieutenant, deciding to start their relationship by talking about something which they had in common.

Kensei.

"This is a first right?" A voice said right next to Ichigo's ear, making him jump in surprise, only to find Yoruichi grinning cheekily at him.

"What is it you and Urahara like about sneaking up on people." Ichigo muttered, shooting Rukia a glare as she snickered at his expense.

"Oh, I suppose it's a pre-requisite for being the head of the stealth corps." She answered dryly, before smirking. "And if we didn't do that, then how else would be know that you two were-"

Two hand covered her mouth in an instant and she mentally cackled at the faces which were practically glowing with embarrassment before her. Of course, she had no intention of spilling the beans right there and then, but they didn't have to know that. Slowly, she felt the hands move down and the the Captain's regained their composure – ever a difficult thing in front of someone so troublesome.

"Here I hoped you'd just come to congratulate Rukia." Ichigo groaned, getting a snort of amusement for his trouble.

"That's a given, but I knew that she'd get the position." She said slyly, before continuing. "Besides, isn't it you who should be doing that, Mr. future-husband?"

Ichigo twitched in irritated at her taunting, but not before he realized that she was actually right. He hadn't congratulated her on such an important event. However, he was stuck with a small problem when he turned to look down at her – he had no idea what to say. He imagined she was excited, ecstatic even – and perhaps a bit overwhelmed by the fact that her desire had actually come true. So now, when she looked up at him with gently shining eyes and a trace of a blush hovering on her cheeks.

He found himself speechless.

Contrary to popular belief, he was not a poet. He liked Shakespeare and could admit he had his moments where he could string something together in the heat of the moment, but it wasn't what he was most comfortable with. Most people at his school would have called him blunt, perhaps even rude depending on how well they knew him. It wasn't like he didn't try to be respectful, but his personality was admittedly...a strong one.

So now, as he searched for words to say to the woman that he loved, the one who had changed his life and who had just achieved a more than impressive feat. He could only think of something that came straight from his heart.

"Think you can make a better Squad than me?"

Rukia blinked in surprise, then smiled brightly at his challenge; it was what he knew she wanted. She didn't need congratulations from someone who already praised her quite frequently, or to hear him tell her how well she'd done. She knew how he felt and she'd no doubt that at some point he'd explode and tell her how proud and happy he was that they could stand together. Doubtless he'd also become embarrassed after saying that and she'd reward him with some...fun which both of them would enjoy.

But right here and now, he'd told her in 9words that he had faith in her and knew that she was on the same level as him.

"That depends, do you think Nel can match me as a Lieutenant?" She replied with a smirk, watching as Ichigo gave a chuckle.

"We'll just find out, won't we, Rukia?"

"That's right, Ichigo."

* * *

><p>(AN)_  
><em>Nope, I don't have any excuse as to why this took so long, I just didn't get around to doing it. That said whilst writing it I did really enjoy it, I hope you enjoy reading it even if it is a bit late. If this story goes according to me (revised) plan, then there's only three or so chapters left, give or take an epilogue.

Regardless thank you for reading, and my apologies for keeping you waiting. Thank Hellsing fanfiction for bringing me back.


	58. Preperation

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

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><p>It didn't take long for the new order of thing to become routine. As always, those who had been chosen to lead stepped up to the challenge and inspired the confidence of the Shinigami in their Squad, without that ability a Captain was nothing. Unlike some previous new Captains, neither Shinji or Rukia bought much change to the core of their squad. Instead, they made the squad their own, whilst also learning from their subordinates where necessary – both had the desire to make their squad the best that it could be. Another thing that any Captain worth mentioning had in common.<p>

Of course just because the fighting had died down, that didn't mean life was calm for those in the Seireitei, the Captain's office of the 3rd squad for example, was just about to receive an unwelcome piece of news.

Until that time, both Captain and Lieutenant of the 3rd squad were sitting in a comfortable silence, the occasional stamp or drip of ink the only thing which permeated it.

"Captain, more transfer requests." Lieutenant Kira informed her, motioning to a small stack of documents which needed her approval. Rukia exhaled slowly, before lifting the papers and leafing through them.

"That's another fifty...do they know how much paperwork these reshuffles cause?" She complained lightly.

It wasn't like she was inexperienced with paper work...but transfer forms had always required extra attention. Not only did she have to look through the files for any discrepancies, the Shinigami's field record had to be dug out and inspected; just to make sure everything was above board. The whole process then had to be verified by the second Captain and everything sent off to be filed away and documented again before the transfer.

Unfortunately the only person could do half of that was the Captain, the Lieutenant had no clearance to personal files most of the time.

It was a pain.

Kira gave a dry smile and shifted some of his own work into his 'complete' stack. "At least we should be thankful that requests are coming both ways, I think we'll have a few more members by time it dies down."

"That's true, I think I even stole some members from Ichigo's squad." Rukia smiled, seeing a few familiar names on the transfer roster they were building up.

No doubt that'd come up in conversation later.

As far as she knew the 5th squad was fairing just as well as ever, Ichigo had been training Nel up to improve her admin skills. Apparently there has been a lack of the in Hueco Mundo; if only Aizen had told them that the Captains might not have been so against his regime.

Rukia had her own squad to think about now, first and foremost she'd been dismayed to find out that in the absence of a Captain the squad was missing several seated officers. Ranks as high up as 4th seat were vacant, even with very capable Shinigami being present in the squad. Naturally she'd gone to Kira and asked him about the issue, only to find out that a Lieutenant couldn't promote unseated Shinigami. Once they were an officer a Lieutenant could move them about within reason, but otherwise they were out of luck. When you consider how long the 3rd squad had been without a Captain...it was a loophole which had left her with a job to do the moment she arrived.

To her delight none of the current seated officers had decided to change squad, instead welcoming her and helping her in any way they could. It was a far cry from the cold welcome she'd first received at the 13th, but those were different times.

Before long she'd got her squad organised and the officer positions filled up, there were a few kinks to be filled out, but for the most part the 3rd squad was running as well as any other squad at the moment. It was impressive that it'd gone for so long with only a Lieutenant, even if he was one that Rukia already knew was extremely adept at his job.

A fact which he proved yet again moments later when he handed her an updated and complete roster of the squad transfers. "That's it for today, I imagine that'll be it for a while too."

The Captain sighed with relief and nodded her thanks, at least there was a definite end to her paperwork today.

Unfortunately there was something a little more stressful to come.

It's arrival was heralded by a timid knock on the door, so soft that Rukia barely heard it. It was only when the person knocked again that she put down her work and responded. "Come in?"

The screen door slid open and her sister entered the room, bowing her head and looking around a little nervously.

"Sorry for interrupting you when you're working, this is the first time I've seen your office." She smiled, though there was something off about it.

Rukia narrowed her eyes and searched around for the reiatsu of any unwelcome guests, after finding none she pinned her sister with a stare. "There's something you're not telling me, Nee-san. What's going on?"

"Aha I d-don't know what you're talking about." Hisana laughed nervously, taking a seat and fiddling with her hands.

The younger sister frowned. This wasn't like her, she'd only act like this when she was unsure or keeping something important a secret. Judging from her actions something was happening or had happened which would be important to her. As it stood Rukia wasn't really in the mood to spend a long time trying to figure this one out, still the only notification of her temper was a couple of taps on the desk.

"I don't mind you coming over if you want to talk Nee-san, but these files have to-"Rukia started, not getting far when Hisana interrupted her loudly.

"Byakuya's going to see Ichigo now." She blurted out, taking a breath and looking her sister in the eye.

"What about?" Came the suspicious reply.

The elder sister gave a small smile and a shrug. "I'm afraid that he's decided the time's right for a wedding."

Rukia sat in shock for a moment, letting the news sink in.

Things had been moving well enough at their own pace, she'd no doubt that both of them had thought about the future before. However the future was too late apparently, so the schedule had been shifted forwards to 'now'. There had been so much going on recently, both of them had forgotten that their relationship was on a time limit of sorts. As it happened they now had the most direct reminder possible.

"W-wedding?" She finally stuttered?

Hisana nodded and gave an apologetic smile. "Byuakuya was content to wait for a bit, but now that everything's settled down the elders won't wait any longer. Even the Shihouin elders want the wedding now-"

A stong wind suddenly blew through the office and Rukia recognised the reiatsu of her...fiance as it flowed over them. '_Ah, so Nii-sama's just told him'_ She deduced, her mind still a haze of emotions and disbelief.

On the one hand both of them wanted this: on the other neither had given much thought to the matter other than the aforementioned future wishes. There was something to be said for being the one to make the decision, even if the decision that someone else makes is the same as your own. Feeling like your life is under your own control is something which tended to help most people, it gave them the strength to press forward.

In this situation, Rukia could honestly say that, while surprised, she wasn't angry at the Kuchiki clan for this.

There was a way that the nobles did things; it may not be the best way or the fairest, but the core of nobility was tradition. That was something which had always troubled her partner but she'd been around the nobility long enough to understand why they were how they were. It was hard to explain why some traditions were acceptable and some weren't, but it wasn't like she needed to. Ichigo would discover that for himself when he had his own noble family to lead.

She took a deep breath and started to calm down. At the very least it was Hisana who had told her, she didn't envy Ichigo having her brother to be the one who explained the situation.

"So...what now?" She asked the only question on her mind. She didn't have any experience or knowledge of noble weddings, her sister probably knew this.

Hisana smiled and turned to Kira. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait outside, the Kuchiki traditions can't really be told to everyone." She said apologetically.

"No problem, I'll come back later to finish my work. Congratulations, Captain. " He smiled, setting a few papers aside and standing.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Kira. Sorry for disturbing you from your work."

"Not at all." He replied, and left the two clans-women alone.

As soon as they were alone Hisana withdrew a scroll from her kimono, spreading it out on the desk. The paper was old and worn but the ink looked like it had been brushed yesterday. The edges were lined with a series of kido which appeared to hide the contents of the scroll from anyone outside of the Kuchiki clan; it wasn't the first time Rukia had seen them but it was the first time she'd seen so many.

Tracing a hand down the scroll, Hisana stopped when she'd found the section she wanted and returned her attention to her sister.

"Well then, shall we begin?"

* * *

><p>The atmosphere in the office of the 5th squad was slightly less relaxed. After Byakuya had informed Ichigo of the upcoming marriage there had been a brief argument, after which the younger Captain had sunk into a state of shock. As far as Byakuya was concerned this was be best case scenario, previous...discussions with his fellow Captain often ended in a prolonged argument and a glare-off. The Kuchiki mentally noted that Ichigo had matured quickly since his ascension to Captain, it made him more secure in his decision to allow the courtship in the first place.<p>

A few minutes drifted by with the only sound being the soft rustling of paper as Nel continued to do her work. Feeling the silence had gone on long enough, he glanced at her.

"Could you give me an estimate on how long this will last, Lieutenant Kurosaki."

"He'll be coming out of it in a few moments." She smiled, only sparing him a moment before returning to her work.

He had to hand it to her, she was a productive worker. He'd have to inquire as to the Captain's methods of teaching her, though he imagined it had more to do with the Arrancar's strong devotion Ichigo.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden snort which signalled Ichigo's return to conciousness. The younger Captain blinked before running his hand through his hair, an action which had quickly become habit now he was a Captain.

"Okay..." He sighed, resting his arms on the desk and leaning back. "It wasn't like this is completely unexpected, sorry for the reaction."

"There is no need for apologies, though I could have done without the insult to my clan." Byakuya replied wryly, recalling a few of Ichigo's choice words about the Kuchiki clan.

The younger Captain gave a chuckle and tapped his fingers on the desk, his mind struggling between rationalization and emotion.

There was never any doubt that this was coming but for the most part it'd been something that he put to the back of his mind. He'd done the same thing with his Shihouin initiation, enjoying a week or two of relative simplicity before everything was piled back on him again. Not that the marriage would be a burden to him...it was more that there was no doubt both the marriage and the Shihouin rites would take place at a similar time - it'd be a lot to take in at once.

Still, he had no doubt that Rukia would be there with him every step of the way, not to mention that Nel would do her best to support them both.

That didn't change the fact that he's just been informed that his own wedding was somewhat out of his control – it wasn't a good feeling.

"So...do I get any input here?"He finally questioned, figuring that noble weddings would be harder to get out of than a fight with Kenpachi.

"You'll be in charge of your own guests, though they will be seated according to our tradition. Other than that, you'll also be allowed to write your own vows; any other changes would have to be negotiated." Byakuya explained simply, confirming Ichigo's suspicions.

"Right, so not much choice there. Who will be in charge of the planning, not the elders?" He questioned with a cringe, they weren't exactly the people he wanted in control of this moment of his life.

The elder Captain's lip twitched in amusement. "They will have some input, but as head of the house it will come down to Hisana and I to make the final decisions."

Ichigo nodded, somewhat relieved by this. At the very least he'd be able to work something out if there was some tradition which he would not perform. After all the chances were that this was a ceremony thousands of years old, who knows what was considered acceptable then.

"I take it I'm going to have some more obscure traditions to learn then" The younger Captain groused – his distaste of such things getting the better of him.

"Unless you wish to use the old traditions in which both man and women are nude for the ceremony-" Byakuya started, making both Captain and Lieutenant's eyes buldge. "Then our traditions are not that dissimilar from a Shintou ceremony."

Having heard the rest of the sentence, Ichigo glared at the noble. "Tch, you didn't have to try and give me a heart attack."

"Given the circumstances it'd be unfortunate." He replied with only the smallest hint of sarcasm, eliciting a grumble from Ichigo.

"This is my future isn't it, a lifetime of snide remarks from damn nobles. Maybe I should just run away with Rukia and live in Rukongai..."

Once more Byakuya had a jab ready.

"I doubt you'd be able to hide the reiatsu for too long."

"Ahh, I get it , I get it. We're doing things your way." Ichigo finally groaned, clumping down into his chair.

"It's good to see we're on the same page." Byakuya agreed, much to the the young man's irritation.

Unfortunately he'd known from the start that this wasn't going to be something he had much control over, if any. Maybe things would be different if he were in the human world, but at this point he had pretty much agreed (however grudgingly) to play by the rules of the Kuchiki clan. It was the only reason that he wasn't putting up more of a fuss: no matter how many arguments he had the fact remained that he was in the Soul-Society now, which had its own set of rules.

He didn't have to agree with all of them, hell he didn't have to adhere all of them, but some things had to remain constant. No doubt it was going to be enough of a stretch getting his family and friends from the living world for the ceremony, it was becoming more and more clear to him that even Captain's had their limits of rule breaking.

Still, internally he was cursing up a storm and wondering if Rukia would mind if he had a _friendly spar_ with her brother.

Of course; she would.

Whilst Ichigo was mentally considering ways he could complain without actually complaining, Nel turned to Byakuya, her work now all but finished.

"Can I ask about the specifics of ceremony?" She questioned. Marriage was not something she was overly familiar on after all, her biggest source of information being other women.

However, he shook his head. "I'm afraid that only those who are to be wed are told the specifics of the ceremony. Whilst you may be now related to Kurosaki through adoption unless you get married then you will only be privy to the section with guests. "

Nel nodded, wondering if she'd ever get married herself.

It was something which, if she'd been asked a year ago, she would have shrugged off under the assumption that it was impossible. Even now she didn't find it likely that any man would come along whose company she found more enjoyable than Ichigo's – however, there was always a possibility. Especially since she'd been amazed with how accepting many of the Shinigami had been; especially the higher ranking ones.

She was even somewhat surprised that she'd be allowed to attend the ceremony, considering how unyielding the nobles were supposed to be when it came to tradition and laws. Not for the first time she marvelled at how much change one man could bring.

Shaking the thoughts off, she nodded and stood up.

"Very well, I'll leave you alone for a while then. Try not to be too hard on him." The arrancar motioned to Ichigo as she spoke, who was glaring at nothing in particular.

Byakuya gave a curt nod and waited for her to exit before taking a scroll out of his Shihakushou and laying it down. Unlike Hisana's this was the original which had been passed down from house head to house head through generations. That meant that extra precautions were placed on the scroll, after all it'd be a tragedy if such an old heirloom was lost or stolen. The latter was unlikely because like many heirlooms, the value was only known to the owners.

It was around this time when Ichigo finally snapped out of his contemplation and leaned over to see what his companion was looking at. After giving it a once over, he relaxed back into his seat; not about to say that he couldn't read a fair few of the kanji on the sheet.

That was yet another thing that he didn't find appealing about sticking to tradition. At least Shakespeare had been translated into a form that was easily accessible.

Unaware of Ichigo's trepidation, Byakuya started reading from the parchment. "Before the sacred rites of unity are taken, both the current head of clan and the proposed groom must first understand that to break these vows is the hightest dishonour any man can bring upon this clan. Should the current head judge the groom to have a possibility of doing so, he should reconsider the engagement immediately."

Byakuya glanced up at Ichigo, who snorted. "As long as they don't require me to swear loyalty to the Kuchiku clan then I don't care."

"That shouldn't be an issue, your vows are your own and outside of that you are only required to be loyal to your betrothed. Still, I'd appreciate it if you could bring and matters involving the clan or its members to me directly." The elder replied.

"Noted." Ichigo agreed with a tilt of his head. He had faith that Byakuya could deal with any sort of clan-dispute with fair judgement.

"So, onto the next section..." Byakuya started, reciting the words from the parchment as his father had to him.

It was a long scroll, but both Captains of the 5th and 3rd squad listened intently, preparing as much as they could for the life-changing event which was to come. Unfortunately for both of them, due to the nature of the ceremony, there could be no rehearsal. Any and all practice was done in sections, and only related to the parts before and after the vows. It was not until the day of the wedding that everything would finally come together and the two would become bound through the ages.

For in a Shinigami wedding there was something which was impossible in the human world...soul binding.

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><p>(AN) Wooo, 6 months per chapter – that's a new record I think.

Nothing much to say, I'm winding down the story for the last few chapters now but I still hope that you will enjoy it! Now that I'm done, I'm going to go back to drawing and reading Tokyo Ghoul (if you like dark shounens then read this, it's an amazing manga).

See you next time and thanks for reading as always!


	59. And Yet it Turns

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

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><p>If there was one thing which Ichigo was thankful for in this moment, it was his time spent in high-school. It was amazing how well it had prepared him for his current 'job' of following rules and learning things which he would only ever use once – such as the seemingly endless list of traditions which he had to learn for his upcoming wedding.<p>

It didn't help that he was forbidden from seeing Rukia for a week before the wedding; any communication was also banned unless he sent a message through her brother.

It was quite the hassle.

Still, it gave him time to do the important things: paperwork, endlessly rereading old scrolls, paperwork, throwing Renji out of his office, paperwork... More than once Nel had commented on how he'd become more moody since the wedding preparation had started. That didn't surprise him considering his head was currently full of information and remembering to be polite had apparently been the thing which had taken a back seat.

"You look more stressed than you did in the winter war." A voice commented, causing him to jerk to the side.

He grimaced when he saw Yoruichi perched on his window sill, her ever-present smirk already annoying him.

"What do you want?" The haggard Captain asked gruffly, not in the mood to deal with her. Both her and Kisuke had been enjoying themselves immensely by doing 'experiments'.

Said experiments were mainly related to testing how quickly they could make his thread of a temper snap. That was why when she held up her hands and said "It's actually important this time, so you might want to listen." He had trouble believing her.

"You ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?" He snarked, leaning back in his chair.

"Nope, I'm not into living world stories. Kisuke would know it though." She answered conversationally.

Ichigo grunted. "Of course he would."

A comfortable silence passed over the two as Ichigo swept the papers which were 'for his eyes only' into a desk drawer and left the rest lying about. It was a pointless move as he had no doubt that the former leader of the stealth corp. knew far more than he did about the inner workings of every facet of the Soul-Society. Still, there was no harm in being careful.

Yoruichi appeared to ignore the act and took a seat on one side of his desk.

"So, you know how this marriage is coming up." She started, getting a glare in response.

"Hurry it up."

Her eyebrow twitched at his dismissive tone but she ignored it and continued on regardless. After all things were about to get a whole lot worse for him

"Since you're in such a good mood I won't beat around the bush. The Shihouin clan wants to induct you before -"

She was cut off by a loud thump as Ichigo's head hit the table.

"-your wedding." Yoruichi finished, nonplussed by Ichigo's melodramatic behavior.

Of all the things she had informed him of over her time knowing him: that he had to learn bankai in 3 days, that he was related to her, that he could not beat Byakuya (how times change), this was one of the least impressive revelations in her opinion.

Not to mention that he had to know this was always coming, he'd always known that he had to do things in this order. She could understand if he'd pushed it to the back of his mind, but even then...

"I did tell you this would happen." She shrugged unsympathetically.

Her response was an irritable grunt and Ichigo shifted his head to the side so he could look up at her from the desk. "That doesn't make it any less stressful."

At any other time he might have just rolled his eyes at the nobles overly-complicated way of doing things and set about learning some ancient ritual. As it stood he was already having enough trouble with one – one which he was a bit more concerned about.

To make matters worse, he'd have to juggle this new set of traditions with his paperwork as well as his wedding preparation. On top of that he also had other duties which he liked to take part in within the squad, such as attending training every few days and making sure all the missions were progressing smoothly.

In short, all of these side activities were about to be cut from his routine and he wasn't happy with it.

"So how long will I have to study for this induction?" He sighed.

There was no point in arguing, this was going to be an awful week regardless.

"Huh, oh not at all really." Yoruichi shrugged, not really paying attention.

"What?" Ichigo asked with disbelief – not really understanding what she was saying.

She frowned and looked down at him. "The Shihouin clan has always prided itself on being a clan with a simple but precise ideology. As such we don't have a long induction – you will need to listen to the oath and accept it. In fact the only hard part is dealing with the clan as a whole after the fact, or at least it will be for you since I was raised as a princess."

Yoruichi ended her explanation with a dismissive wave of her hand. With their history of leading the stealth corps, her clan and always been one of action. Sure, there was a fair amount of politics behind the scenes, but for the most part she'd never been involved in that after she became a Captain. The issues of her clan were taken care of as she had other things to do.

It also helped that she could excuse herself from most, if not all events by claiming to have work with the stealth corps on that day. Half the time she went and hung out with Kisuke, the other half she just retired to Squad 2's barracks so she could behave as she liked.

Informality was something which she had grown used to and after the stifling formality she'd been taught as a child, cutting loose had been a breath of fresh air. Now it had become her natural state, courtesy of one mad scientist.

"Wait-" Ichigo said slowly, interrupting her reminiscence "You're telling me that it's that simple? No stupid ancient set of a hundred million rituals to follow?"

Yoruichi rolled her eyes at his over-exaggeration and easily responded. "Nope, nothing of the sort. Lucky you."

Ichigo remained silent, mentally thanking whatever gods shinigami believed in (as far as he was aware there were none) that he'd managed to escape from another pain. Not only would he be able to continue acting as he had, but it gave him more information on what it was likely to be like leading a clan.

If he was honest, the idea filled him with trepidation. He was never the best at acting as a role model, at least in terms of following the rules and such. It wasn't that what he did was wrong, or at least he liked to think he acted with the interests of others in mind, just that the way he did it was rather...reckless. After going through everything he had, the lesson that had taken the longest to learn was that simply throwing yourself in front of the metaphorical bullet, or sword, wasn't the best choice.

It wasn't something which he wanted to see others doing. No one wanted to see someone they loved give themselves for them, die for them. It simply left the survivor with a horrible feeling of guilt – something which could easily consume you.

There was a balance that had to be reached – when you could, in an instant, weight your life and the results of your actions against those who you were going to protect.

Oh, he would protect anyone and everyone he could. That would never change, but recklessly charging in with no regard for his own life was no longer an option. He had far too much to lose now – if he were honest he had too much to lost when he'd done that at 15. The idea that his sisters would grow up knowing he'd died for them...was not something he was comfortable with.

Not when their mother had died for him – he wouldn't with that upon anyone.

These had been his thoughts when the reality of being a Captain had hit him. It was not his place to teach his shinigami when it was appropriate to give their life – that was something they must decide on their own. It was up to him to teach them that there were always options to take before that last, desperate chance.

Could you disarm the enemy, were you fast enough to move them, was there a kido which would help, was back-up nearby. All of these questions were things he had never considered as a younger man – all of them invaluable.

Now he had to act as a role model for people who existed in a society he'd never been a part of. Everything would revolve around his image of the clan, how seriously he took his duties. He couldn't afford to slip up, just as in a fight the nobles would eat him alive.

Yet he could not disappoint Yoruichi – who had entrusted something so central to her. It wasn't clear to him what she felt about her clan, but it was still a part of her history who'd helped her become who she was today.

If he could change the Soul-Society into a more accepting place then perhaps he could do it for a noble family too.

"Captain, I- oh, Lady Yoruichi, I didn't know you were here." The voice of his 4th seat drew him out of his musings and he smiled tiredly up at her.

"It's not an issue Azami, Yoruichi was just keeping me in the loop. What's up?" He asked casually, leaning back and sending a pointed look at Yoruichi.

This would be difficult enough without his squad knowing beforehand. He'd prefer to get the initiation over and done with before he told them – then instantly reminded them not to get formal with him.

The ex-Captain, jerked her head slightly in recognition and hopped off the desk. "I'll leave you two to your work. Make sure you get to the estate in one hour and forty-five minutes, Ichigo; being late would be an issue."

With that she vanished, leaving the Captain and subordinate alone.

Azami opened her mouth to ask what she was talking about, but quickly decided better of it. Not only had she walked in without knocking, but if her Captain had wanted to tell her he would have. No doubt he'd inform her at some point anyway – he was just that kind of person.

"Sorry, what was it, Azami?" Ichigo asked again, turning away from where Yoruichi had flash-stepped.

"Nothing much, I was just wondering if you would accept this rotor for the training schedule?" She asked, pulling a file out from under her arm and handing it to him.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, not recalling asking for such work to be done. Never the less his 4th seat had showed her self to be rather competent in admin tasks as well as combat, so he gave her the benefit of the doubt and analysed the new system which she proposed.

Currently the squad worked on a system where the higher seats would teach unseated and lower seats, regardless of the specific type of training. The idea was generally that the higher a member was the more experience they had – rather than those who excelled at theoretical knowledge. Yet it did mean that less proficient Shinigami were sometimes leading more skilled soldiers.

The 5th squad Captain carefully considered the new system; which he had to admit was extremely interesting. Instead of having one instructor, there would be two which would be different for each class. In, for example, the kido class: there would be one high seat member and one extremely skilled kido user regardless of their seat. Due to the arbitrary way seating worked, it was entirely possible for less-well rounded shinigami to get over looked.

In this case, the skilled member would go over the spell and how it could be used, teaching the basics as it were. After this the higher seated member would go into more detail about the situational uses of such a spell and how it could assist shinigami in a combat environment. It seemed that this system would help to assuage any feelings of irritation that could brew and shift into dislike and dissent.

"This is...really good work, Azami." Ichigo murmured, still reading the final list of changes which she'd recommend for the system to be put into place.

The 4th seat flushed, embarrassed at her Captains praise. It wasn't that he didn't give much praise, but it was generally between criticism. It was never ill-intended, he sincerely wanted to help people improve, so he wouldn't praise people needlessly. If you were doing it wrong, he'd tell you – it was something she liked about her blunt Captain.

"Thank you, sir." She replied, dropping back into formality out of habit.

He snorted and looked over the paper again. "In fact, I don't see why this isn't the system we already use. The seating system in itself is already a bit of a mess when, out of the four Shinigami teachings, students usually only excel in one or maybe two."

"The current system's more based of reiatsu though, since those with more power generally find it easier to progress via training." Azami replied, very familiar with how the system worked. Unlike Ichigo she'd had to go through the slow way after all.

Ichigo nodded in agreement. "Yes, it makes sense, but it does little to consider natural talent in one area or another. The closest we have to that is the Kido corps and the Stealth corps but they are only examples of the extreme."

"There's also the 4th and the 12th squads." She reminded him, since the two of them both required you to be interested in one particular subject.

Her Captain nodded his head in agreement. "True, plus the 11th to some extent – but the core problem of the overall seating system isn't something which can really be resolved. Still, this will help a bunch to thanks again."

Azami shrugged, trying to be humble about it. "It's nothing, I just thought it might help."

Ichigo smiled and closed the file, planning on given it to Nel so she could look over it too. She had a knack for noticing the small details which he missed – even if this file in particular was unlikely to contain any errors.

"Why did you do this though, I didn't ask you to." He asked slowly, hoping he didn't sound ungrateful.

His 4th seat seemed to consider her answer for a few moments, before she responded equally as slowly.

"Well, it seemed like you had a lot on your mind but that you wanted to continue working with the squad. This way you can drop in and out more to your schedule and it should make it a bit easier for you...I guess." She finished uncertainly.

For her it had just been natural to try and make her Captains life as easy as possible. Just as he was there to lead them forward, the shinigami he lead must also support him to the best of their abilities. She'd always been told that her organisation was good, so it made sense for her to help out with the admin side as much as the combat side.

It wasn't something she'd ever thought about much though, at least not anything beyond 'I want to help somehow'.

Ichigo gave a short laugh, surprising her. Even in his best moods he wasn't one to laugh much, she didn't think she'd ever seen him simply...laugh. She still hadn't of course, but this was more than you usually heard from him.

"Captain?" She asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"It's Ichigo, you know that." He scolded good-naturedly. Like many shinigami she had a habit of dropping into formality when she was unsure of the situation, it was a surprisingly common trait.

Then again it made sense considering the Gotei 13 was a military organisation.

"Anyhow, what I was going to say was that I'm promoting you to 3rd seat. It should have been done as soon as Nel moved up, but I've been quite busy as you know." He sighed, knowing that wasn't much of an excuse. After all he hadn't been doing wedding preparations from the moment Rukia left.

Still Azami didn't argue and instead smiled widely and bowed. "Thank you, Ca-, Ichigo."

"Yeah well, you deserve it. Now I need to think of who to promote to my 4th seat..." He mused, before waving his hand. "Oh well, I'll do that after the wedding."

"Surely you'll be busy afterwards..."She replied slyly, watching her Captain flush and reply with a glare.

"I'm sure I can move you back down if you'd like." He grumbled, refusing to rise to the bait. Mainly as it wasn't a topic he really wanted to discuss...at all, let along with a woman. He'd have enough of Yoruichi's perpetual teasing to scar him for life – then again Urahara was no better...

So no, there was no one he'd want to talk about _that_ with.

* * *

><p>One hour and forty minutes later, Ichigo stopped outside the Shihouin mansion in preparation for what was to come. This would be one of the more important moments in his life, so even if there wasn't much for him to do – he wanted to do it right.<p>

He took a breath to steady his nerves, then turned to the guards who'd been politely avoiding looking at him since he had arrived.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki – I believe I'm expected." He said simply. There was little use in using his title as a Captain of the Gotei 13 here – he was well aware that the nobility were extremely secular.

The guard to the right nod of him nodded mutely before giving a small bow and opening the gates. Just like that he was inside and the gates slid shut behind him, sealing him inside. It was strange, to think that in some ways this place would become a sort of home to him. Maybe not his _home_, or even his second home – but some sort of home perhaps.

If it wasn't, then he'd try his utmost to make it into one – this was going to become a clan which he represented after all. As much as he must live up to their expectations, they'd have to accept that he had limits to his acceptance.  
>"It's nice to see you arrived with time to spare." A gentle voice said beside him.<p>

He stopped himself from jumping at the lack of reiatsu she exuded, before turning to find one of the clan elders beside him. The situation could easily become awkward for him, as he couldn't remember her name at all, but he could only hope that wouldn't be an issue. He didn't think he'd be able to deal with it in the same way as he did the afro Shinigami of Karakura.

Thinking about it, he should be used to it seeing as Yoruichi and Urahara were masters of concealing their reiatsu.

"It's nice to see you again." He settled on, not really knowing what else he could say in this situation. The old lady simply smiled and started walking up the path to the house, calling back to him as she left.

"And you. Come along, we don't have long before the ceremony must start and we must first get you out of those...clothes."

Ichigo looked down at his Shihakusho and frowned, not sure what was wrong with his attire. He quickly caught up to her and was about to ask her why he needed to, but before he could a strange sight caught his eye.

It was Yoruichi...he thought. Not like anything he'd seen her in before though. She wore a long, floral, orange furisode – the sleeves falling gracefully down over her crossed arms. Her obi was similarly detailed, with a delicate weaving of silks lining the top of it. He could see a traditional hiyoku just poking out beneath the top kimono layer, with a haori draped elegantly over her shoulders.

The most striking thing about her appearance was her hair, which had been looped into long elegant folds with numerous kanzashi in the form of jade animals alongside an arrangement of expertly sculpted flowers, lined subtly with gold leaf. The look was complete by a Kushi slotted perfectly into her her – finishing the master sculpt that was her image.

If he'd seen her as a princess in their first visit to the mansion – he'd been mistaken. This, this was what she had been raised to be. There was nothing out of place, nothing awry; she was everything which you would associate a princess with.

She was a princess.

"What's this, still surprised by my dashing good looks?" She asked with a sly grin on her face.

Yes, just as a princess she knew when she was the epitome of control. She got what she wanted and held no punches.

"...Can you still fight in that?" He asked lamely, not thinking of any retorts immediately. What he really wanted to ask is if he'd have to match her...he wasn't sure that he could.

He knew he couldn't.

"I could beat you in tag whilst in a corset and an evening gown." She boasted, uncrossing her hands and revealing an exquisitely detailed fan which she flipped out lazily.

Yet every movement was still so...elegant. It was unfathomable to him, Urahara could do it too and he knew that man had little experience with the nobility. It was the stealth corps which had honed that practiced sense of movement into every aspect of their life.

"We'll find out another day – I'm sure Urahara would love to provide you with one to test that theory. For now I need to get dressed." He replied, not missing the way her nose twitched slightly in irritation.

Ah, so she didn't want to do it – marvelous.

"Don't be too long then, I've already told them your sizes." She said, shrugging of his veiled threat.

She was untouchable in this environment but unfortunately her usual brand of mischief was also not available to her. Luckily she was at least rewarded with a splutter of surprise from her protege, not doubt simultaneously outraged and embarrassed by the invasion of his privacy.

As if he had any in the first place.

* * *

><p>The hall in which the initiation was being held was...underwhelming. That is to say that while Ichigo had expected gold and intricate wood carvings, what he got was a relatively simple wooden hall about the size of the Captains hall. There were a few pieces of calligraphy hanging on the walls along with a number of weapons, ranging from nodachi to tanto's along with naginata and all manner of spears.<p>

If he had to call it something, he'd call it an armory, or somewhere in which a weapon salesman would meet his clients. Still, he walked in without hesitation – decked in clothes which value likely exceed that of his squads barracks.

There was a singular broach in his hair, sporting the Shihouin family crest along with a number of studded jewels as stars. His Kimono was plain black silk with five of the Shihouin crests woven meticulously into the garment. Below it he wore another white silk robe and on top of it a somber, yet detailed dark blue haori which was slightly shorter than his Captain's haori. It had a number of slightly lighter patterns interweaving and joining to the lining which was a noticeable lighter blue.

Unlike Yoruichi he had a Hakama on the lower half of his body patterned with straight lines which stretched out to the bottom of his legs. It was tied to his waist over the obi with a number of subtle details woven into the fabric and tying the hakama to the obi.

Yoruich had to admit that, sans his orange hair, he cleaned up rather well.

Not showing any hint of the nervousness that threatened to destroy his composure, he calmly walked up to the three elders and bowed deeply before sitting in the seiza style before them. Yoruichi was seated to one side, horizontal to both parties.

It was she who spoke first, her voice calm and each word pronounced exactly.

"I present to you, elders of the Shihouin clan, the man which I have chosen to be my heir and take the leadership of the clan."

The man with the sharp voice – Taro if he remembered correctly – replied just as eloquently.

"We require the name of the chosen."

"Ichigo Kurosaki, son to Isshin Shihouin and cousin to Yoruichi Shihouin." Ichigo said, trying to match their speech as much as he could.

The other old man nodded and replied. "We recognize that the elders: Takuma, Ume and Taro Shihouin have met and accepted to this agreement prior to this ceremony."

At least he wouldn't have to remember their names now Ichigo thought, before his attention became focused once more on the words which came now from Ume.

"In that case we have only to ask if you would accept the oath which will bind you to this clan for the rest of your life. Above all else, this is something which is unbreakable, lest you desire to bring shame and ruin upon yourself and Yoruichi Shihouin, who will act as your adviser and first consul." She recited seriously, looking him in the eyes as if she were gauging his resolve.

"I am ready to hear the oath." He replied simply, preparing himself.

It was Yoruichi who spoke it to him, also looking him in the eye as she spoke. "Then do you, who wish to lead this clan, swear to adhere to out most basic tenants. To uphold the laws of the Soul-Society, to stand strong in all situations and act as a pillar to those around you. Your mind must be as a strong tree which grows and strengthens whilst all around it fall. Your body must be strong enough to halt evil and receive the barbs with which it seeks to poison our society.

When the sun rises you must think of that clan – when the sun sets you must think of the clan. You must be a leader who will see beyond the darkness which shrouds the hearts of the deceitful, who can understand what justice is and what it means.

You must be one of us – just as we must believe in you.

Will you accept this oath, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

As she finished, it surprised even Ichigo that there was no hesitation in his answer. Nor thoughts about if he could cope with a noble family...he would just do it. If he was being given this chance, he would show them what humanity could do – what compassion could do to the oppressed and the hateful.

He would change everything, once again.

Only this time, he knew that.

"I do."

* * *

><p>(AN)

Yo, another chapter at last haha. I swear the next chapter will be the wedding...I even spent time writing a kido for the next chapter which was actually extremely enjoyable. This is kind of warm-up for me to get back into writing as I'm writing a visual novel for my final year at university...so I hipe you liked this!

Until next time.


	60. The Falling Sand

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Time raced passed for Ichigo, weeks blurring together as his attention was split between his new position and his continuing task of learning set of centuries old traditions. For the most part, that had been getting easier as he got a hang of the basic set of principles which the nobles interacted within. Never let it be said that he was rude; Masaki would never have wanted her son to be without some level of mannerisms. Ichigo's philosophy was more that manners were something which were used in very specific times or towards people which he didn't know well but respected highly.

As it turned out, this was one of the times manners were necessary.

The issue was more the ludicrous amount of rules which were added on when you were a noble, especially when it was some particular event.

For example, during the post-ceremony event the bride and groom would be approached by representatives from the nobles families which had been invited. Of course to not be invited if you were a prominent family was a snub in and of itself, not that Ichigo had much interest in that particular area of family politics.

Still, he had left the more complicated aspects of the ceremony of the Shihouin elders and Byakuya respectively. As far as he knew Rukia also had a small hand in the colour schemes and such, but for the most part the state of the rooms had been set a long time ago. It's true that he'd never been particularly interested in the finer details of his wedding, but as far as he knew neither was Rukia. Both of them would have preferred a smaller affair, the presence of their friends being far more important than the amount of money which went into the ceremony.

It was a blessing that the Shihouin family didn't really have much input in the wedding, they seemed happy enough that they would be gaining a new head and marrying into the most well known of the four great houses.

On that note, Ichigo had been adamant that the other two of the great houses not attend the wedding. This had been the one political issue that he'd actively voiced his opinion on, much to the elders chagrin. It wasn't that he had anything against the other families, he'd never met them after all, but 'politics' wasn't a good enough reason for them to be invited to such an intimate event. At least it wasn't in his opinion.

At the end of the day that was the upshot of a lot of his exchanges with the Shihouin elders – that he didn't feel the need to keep in contact with families which he didn't know. There were only two or three clans that he could even vaguely claim to have a connection to beside the Kuchiki; all of them being because the clan had captains in the Gotei 13. With that said he knew that he'd eventually have to try and do something about his relationship with Soi-fon, since like it or not her clan were intimately linked with his.

It was the continuous social tightrope which irked him the most about nobility, the only reason he'd cave on one issue or another would be because Yoruichi had shown up to pester him. She was essentially his barometer for how important an issue actually was, not that he agreed with all of her suggestions.

Ichigo was rather happy that the Gotei 13 was so much more relaxed with their standards in terms of general behavior. Even if Mayuri was the poster boy for why some standards were generally needed.

However as time moved on he'd gained more and more responsibilities, none more pressing than the upcoming marriage.

"Is it soon?" Ukitake murmured to his long time friend, eyes drifting to the head of orange hair which stood out from the grass behind it.

"Mmm, I think it's starting in an hour or so." Shunsui replied casually, his own eyes still closed.

Since the war had ended both Captains had taken the time to simply sit in the sun every now and then. It was something which the pair had been prone to previously, but nothing makes you appreciate the little things like almost having your home ripped from existence. Since then their meetings – or at least those like this- had typically involved less...talking.

It seem to be more a case of the two of them simply enjoying the peace.

Today the pair had noticed the addition of another presence near the stream they were seated beside. It wasn't hard to figure out who it was when it was one of the more noticeable reaitsu's in the Seireitei. Still, it had to be said that there was a noticeable improvement from the days when the young Captain's reitsu had been perpetually leaking out of him.

They had made no effort to hide their own reitsu, but as he had not approached them it was clear that he wanted a bit of time alone. The only contact they'd had was when their eyes briefly met his, each party offered a slight not, then Ichigo collapsed backwards into the lush grass.

Ukitake sighed and leaned back. "It's amazing how far things have come in such a short space of time."

"Who would have thought that a human would marry into the Kuchiki clan." Shunsui agreed.

The white-haired Captain chuckled at that, knowing full well that both of them would have outright laughed if you told them that a few years ago. No, on second thought it'd be quite rude to laugh. For his part at least he'd offer some tea and make sure his would-be-seer was in their right mind. He had no doubt that Shunsui would have played along with the same smile on his face which he would use when he was listening to a child.

How times changed.

"It's going to be an interesting ceremony though, it's been a while since the Kuchuki had a wedding." Ukitake mused, attempting to remember.

Shunsui opened his eyes and lazily tilted his head up. "It would have been Byakuya and Hisana's – their clan's been stagnating for a while on that front."

The mood became a tad more sombre as the two Captains remembered the incident. Even if a miracle had reunited the two of them, scars were always left by losses of that magnitude. You could still see it in the way that the Kuchiki head sometimes glanced at his wife, as if wondering how she was simply standing there. That he could see here simply talk, smile and laugh every day was more important than the entire clan which he had represented for decades.

The mysteries of love were no simpler in the Soul-Society than the human world – they just took more time.

The pair of Captains felt another reiatsu approaching them and within a few moments someone arrived beside Ichigo, head bowed. It was a retainer of the Shihouin clan who seemed to say something to him which, after a pause, made him stand up and brush some stray grass off his haori. The young Captain gave them one more nod of of respect before he vanished, his shunpo moving him away far faster than the retainer who was left to wonder back to the mansion- message safely delivered.

"I guess we should get ready too then." Shunsui sighed, not willing to stand up just yet.

Indeed, it wouldn't do well for two Captain's of the Gotei 13 to be late to a wedding would it?

* * *

><p>"Geez, Yuzu. Stop fussing over your hair!" Karin complained as her twin continued to take up valuable bathroom space with doing her hair. It was one of the first time's she'd seen Yuzu so...concious about her appearance, typically she seemed to be more utilitarian about clothes and accessories.<p>

Not that she didn't like to look cute.

But without Ichigo to show off to she seemed to have become less bothered by it all. Karin, being a fan of boyish clothes really couldn't give much of an opinion on her sisters state of dress. If she had to describe it in a word it'd be...motherly.

The black-haired twin heart a whine from inside the bathroom. "Karin, it's important! Onii-chan's only going to get married once and it's to some rich family now!"

"Y'know, we're part of another rich family." Karin replied in a bored tone.

There had been quite the series of shocks for the two sisters over the past few months. Their brother's marriage and their own family's relation to some sort of nobility was all a bit strange to them. Neither Yuzu nor Karin had ever been to the Soul-Society – which was for the best according to the grumblings of their brother – so to be told all of this didn't really affect them in a normal way.

After all, they were nobility in another world which they had never been to. Heck, Yuzu had trouble even seeing most of the people in that world if they visited the real world.

Just going there would help them see what all the fuss was about.

The noise of the door unlocking caught her attention and she turned to see Yuzu come out, face downcast. "Plus...it's been a while..."

Karin looked away too at that.

It was true that it'd been some time since either of them had actually seen their brother. Sure they had spoken on the phone and Ichigo had been away on Shinigami business before. But it had taken a while for them to get used to his absence, even now Yuzu sometimes forgot about how many people she was cooking for.

Growing up normally would have been no different – eventually he would have moved away to university. But him being where he was now made him feel so much more...unreachable. It didn't help that Isshin had already told them about how the Soul-Society's ageing was quite...strange. Despite being three years apart, the sisters would likely look more like a years younger than him now.

There were so many strange thing happening around Ichigo that just seeing him, feeling him, felt like it'd make things better. It'd bring him back to them from the lofty heights he'd wondered off too. Both sisters, though silently, agreed with this and were understandably excited to see their brother again.

Admittedly Yuzu had been far more outspoken about her desire to see Ichigo again.

"Just don't break into tears when you see him, you'll ruin your make-up" Karin mumbled, ignoring Yuzu's pouting face.

"I'll be fine!" She replied, then proudly continued. "I have promised myself not to cry until the actual wedding, so hah."

Was that really something to be proud of? Not wanting to rain on her sisters parade, Karin just nodded and slid past her into the bathroom. Not to get ready, she was far more concerned with the simple matter of the toilet right now.

She had kind of avoided thinking about the wedding thus far, it was...weird.

Yuzu left her sister to her own devices and wondered downstairs to find a mirror. It didn't matter what Karin said, she wanted to look perfect for her brother today, she was going to make sure their father didn't embarrass them either.

Just this once she would put her foot down if he turned up in some stupid-

"Yuzu! Which obi should I wear, this one or this one?" Her father cried out.

Remembering the bow-tie incident she turned on him, ready to set him straight. However her rampage was short lived when she saw that he was actually wearing nice clothes for once. She also noticed the sword at his waist and the slight shimmer he had around him, even now her ability to see spirits wasn't great.

Still, her father, dressed in a black kimono with a formal haori draped over it, was far more presentable than she ever remembered seeing him. Not that the expression which was marring his face was any better, but as long as he kept silent maybe her brother might actually have a normal guardian at an event for once. With that thought in mind all Yuzu could do was beam at her father, excitement once more flooding her system.

For his part Isshin allowed himself a small, genuine smile at his daughters expression.

He knew all too well how Ichigo's departure had affected his family. Yuzu had odd off moments, along with moments of open sadness at her brothers lack of presence. Karin hadn't shown much open reaction, but had thrown herself into her football club with far more vigour than he'd remembered.

Everyone had their own way of expressing themselves and Karin had never been very open after all. One of the weirder things which had happened was Karin becoming better friends with Tatsuki after Ichigo had left.

In hindsight it made sense – both of them were tough girls who weren't big on sharing feelings. Both had Ichigo as a large part in their life and both naturally missed him when he up and left.

As if on cue, Isshin heard a knock at the door.

"One second!" Yuzu called out, hastily pointing at the darker sash in his hand and slipping past him.

She huffed about the inconvenient kimono which Karin had helped her into, reminding herself that it'd all be worth it in the end. For the mean time she had to make sure that the obi didn't manage to free itself or a good half hours work would go down the drain.

Not only that but Karin would be sure to shout at her.

Shaking the thoughts from her head she opened the door with a smile. "Welcome!"

As expected, Uryuu, Chad, Orihime, Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro were on the other side of the door. Each of them had dressed for the occasion, mostly it was suits and kimonos (they had been asked to dress in formal Japanese wear given the nature of the ceremony) with Uryuu surprising no one by representing the Quincy in some garb he dreamed up.

No doubt it was some traditional Quincy attire, but none of them were going to argue the point by now.

"Hello Yuzu, you look lovely." Orihime smiled, eliciting a blush from the younger girl.

"Ehe, you think so? You all look wonderful too, Onii-chan's going to be so happy to see you all looking so good."

Tatsuki snorted an slung her draw-string pouch over the shoulder she had, unfortunately, had to wear. As far as she was concerned clothing which was as hard to move around in as a kimono was never ideal, she was already planning a rant to her childhood friend.

Yuzu looked at her for explanation and she obliged. "Come on, you know Ichigo isn't big on formalities, it wasn't like he ever wanted to wear a uniform."

"That's true, but he always wore it properly because those were the rules. It's weird how much of a good guy he always was when his first impressions are always so..." Mizuiro trailed off, struggling for a word to describe their friend.

"Brash." Chad supplied, knowing exactly where he was coming from.

"What do you mean, I always knew he had a heart of gold!" Keigo piped up, clutching his hand to his chest melodramatically.

This earned him a jab in the side from Tatsuki and a, far lighter, knock on the head from Mizuiro. Both of which knew how he had reacted after finding out Ichigo was in their class – the former after being informed by the latter.

"Kurosaki's heart has always been too big for his own good." Uryuu sighed, recalling the countless times Ichigo had defended someone who was trying to kill him mere moments ago.

Orihime hummed in agreement. "That's true, but it's because it's so big that all of us can fit in it!"

There was a moments silence after that incredibly embarrassing line. Orihime didn't seem perturbed by it and looked around, somewhat confused at the silence, as if she'd expected everyone to cheer after her dramatic statement.

An awkward silence was perhaps the worst possible outcome.

"E-eh? I thought that we needed some more drama in this meeting." She explained sheepishly, realizing that she'd perhaps used the wrong method.

Uryuu sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's save it for the after-party shall we. I'm sure you're looking forward to meeting everyone again, it's been a while."

Orihime nodded and smiled at the warmth that she could feel from the Quincy's hand. Even though they'd seen Ichigo not too long ago (even if it felt like a long time) there were still others in the Soul-Society who they were excited to see again. The big one was obviously Rukia, since the small Shinigami hadn't been back to the human world once since Ichigo's departure. It was something they'd expected, but at the same time she'd managed to become part of their group so quickly that it felt weird not seeing her for so long. No doubt she'd been surprised at the change in their appearance, but that was all part of the fun.

Orihime raised her hand to touch the hair which she'd cut some time in the last month. In place of the her long hair, she'd gone with a shorter, slightly curled style. It now only extended to just below her shoulders, something which she was happy to say was much easier to manage than the long hair she'd had for the rest of her life.

The strangest thing was having hair shorter than Tatsuki...there had been quite a stir the first time she'd shown up with her new style. Her best friend had inquired to the reason for her change, but Orihime had only shrugged and made up some vague half-reason.

The truth was that there really wasn't any reason for the change, at least none more so than she was tired of having long hair. After all that had happened in her life up to this point, it had suddenly felt strange that her hair was only slightly different than it was during her first year of highschool: when everything began. Somehow she felt like she needed to change with her move into university, as though her body too was moving on from everything.

It had helped that the first thing Uryuu had done after her spontaneous hair-cut was comment on how it suited her.

In time she'd likely grow it out again, but for now this was who she was – which was something she was happy about. She was happy in general, what with her course going smoothly and Uryuu being a better boyfriend that she could have ever dreamed of having before. Even to the point when she could laugh about the daydreams she'd sometimes had about Ichigo.

Not that she'd stopped daydreaming...she'd just had to try and hide that from her lecturers.

At that moment, Orihime got a nudge in the side and she turned to see Tatsuki smile at her. Since they'd been told about the wedding, it had really been her who'd been the most surprised by the whole thing; excluding Keigo, who'd bemoaned his single status and forced them all to listen. It wasn't like the karate champion was jealous – it just seemed strange to her.

To Tatsuki, Ichigo was a little boy who changed after a horrible thing happened to him. She had known him longer than any of them and, despite not being with them during their most recent exploits, it seemed like she still knew what to expect out of him the best. It had been obvious to Orihime how hard she'd taken it when Ichigo had up and left them for good. The tomboy wasn't the emotional type, but there was certainly a bond which had formed between the two of them. Orihime couldn't compare her own one-sided love to that, still the pair of them had somehow managed to keep themselves afloat just fine without Ichigo.

For her part it was Uryuu who had helped her, Tatsuki seemed to have just pushed through it and forced herself to accept it.

"Shall we get going then, gang?" Isshin asked, beaming and the group of friends his son had. It made him proud to see the people who Ichigo had helped and been helped by; the shoulders who had offered themselves to him in his darkest hours.

"As long as you don't call us that." Karin dead-panned, reminding herself that she was supposed to be on her best behavior today.

If their father behaved then there would be no need to break that promise...but that was a big if.

* * *

><p>The Kuchiki household was in a rather hectic state.<p>

It had been a while since the last wedding of note. Naturally some of the lesser house members had been wed between now and Byakuya's wedding, but there wasn't too much fanfare surrounding them. When the potential next head of the family was getting married there was understandably a bit more money put towards the occasion. Especially as the Kuchiki family was rather well known for its wealth; it wouldn't do for them to appear cheap or even worse – garish.

So a lot of time and money was spent on the decorations and food. The idea was that they had to be the best of the best – but be subtle enough that it wasn't obvious. It was the sort of thing which people who suddenly found themselves with a lot of money nearly always failed at. After all it was quality which was the key; the cost of that quality was of no issue and that was the thing about having money. Not spending lots on things which were of an inferior quality.

The biggest issue was all the imports which they had to source from various places such as the human world and Rukongai districts. This had become much easier since the Soul-Society's recent change to its policies thanks to Ichigo's meddling.

In truth, many in the Kuchiki family had been happy that it was easier to source the things they required now- it meant they could get things far faster and in larger quantities. It also meant that they now had access to even harder to get foods which would have been impossible to get before due to transport time and other restrictions. As much as most of the clan also didn't want to interact with the plebeians, the fact that they could get new and rarer items was too much of an allure for many of them.

After all what way was there to show that you were better than someone than to own something which they couldn't obtain.

The problem for the clan was that many in Rukongai had realized this over the years and with this latest boom to their industry they had started to play hardball. Despite the grumblings about ignorant peasants there was little that could be done apart from agree to their terms and hand over the money.

Of course if Byakuya, Rukia or Hisana caught wind of those grumblings then the result would not be pretty. As much as there was still a strong dislike of anyone not of noble birth, It was becoming clearer and clearer in what way the winds were blowing. The addition of the notoriously pro-rukongai Kurosaki only making it clearer (as if Hisana hadn't been clear enough).

It would be a hard pill to swallow for the clan and as always change would take some time.

In his study, Byakuya looked down the list of requirements for the wedding – taking the time to estimate the cost as he did so. He didn't miss how many human world items were on the list, but given their guests it seemed appropriate. Plus he had to admit that he was curious to try some of the items which he'd never tried, it seemed times had changed quite a bit without them noticing.

Eating was one of those things which, when he found the time, he truly enjoyed. Not stuffing his face like a swine, but simply tasting things which had been cooked to perfection was one of the great benefits of being nobility.

Even if his guest couldn't appreciate that it was only proper to provide them with the best food possible.

A knock at the door drew his attention and he returned the paper to his desk. "Enter."

As he expected, it was his adopted sister who greeted him. "Sorry to disturb you, Nii-sama."

"It's no disturbance, Rukia. I was just reviewing the wedding preparation list. Is there something you'd like to discuss?" Byakuya asked calmly, already pretty sure of the topic of the coming conversation.

It'd be hard not to be.

Rukia nodded and knelt on the other side of his low desk. "Thank you. It's just, I wanted to talk to you before the wedding. If you don't mind, of course.

"It's only natural that you'd be a little agitated and restless before such a big event. Taking a moment to breathe beforehand is common sense." He replied, trying his best to put her at ease. He may not have always been the most supportive big brother but this was a big moment for her and he'd be foolish to try and waive this responsibility.

"H-how were you before your wedding with Hisana Nee-san?" Rukia questioned nervously. It was an event which she knew practically nothing about.

Byakuya paused for a few moments, trying to find the right words to explain his feelings to her. "I suppose I was...nervous. The clan was all but dismissive of her after all, the situation is rather different now."

Rukia nodded. It was certainly true that Ichigo's fame, along with his recent noble status made her wedding significantly less controversial than her brothers. She was also luck enough to have Byakuya on her side, ready to back her up should the more extreme members of the clan suddenly decide to take issue with her once more.

"B-but what about-" Rukia started, her nerves getting to her once again.

"Rukia." Her brother said, sternly but with an undercurrent of affection. "It is not I to whom you should be asking these questions. You seek information about a process which you've never taken part in before – but the point which you must grasp is that this formality is exactly that. Marriage, this ceremony, is merely a manifestation of your feelings or more accurately a confirmation of your wishes to those who would seek to question your deviation."

"The only thing which is worth asking yourself, not me, is if you wish to spend your life with Kurosaki. You understand your heart, so what does your heart wish for, above all else?" Byakuya finished with a small, uncharacteristic smile.

It had been the same for him. He had faltered so much despite his bravado, wondering what the outcome of his marriage would be, what all this uproar and conflict would result in. Yet all that had melted away on the day of the wedding when he'd seen her for the first time in her kimono. There was no reason for Rukia to suffer as he did, she was far more in touch and aware of her feelings and only needed a push to make her mind up. After all, all she was doing was confirming what she had known all along.

And she was stronger than him. She had stood up to him even when she had no hope of defeating him or Renji, all for the sake of a boy she'd known a little over a month. It was no lie that he was proud of her for that, proud that she had found herself after so much of her life had been drowned in misery.

If Ichigo had been the one who had helped push her out of her comfort zone, then he had little argument with the way things were. Doubtless that was also because, for better or worse, he'd come to know the boy over the time he'd fought with them.

"Thank you, Nii-sama." Rukia finally responded. Her brother nodded, happy that the doubt in her eyes had finally cleared up.

Before too long Rukia was called away to prepare, the time was soon.

The hall in which the event was taking place was split into two parts. One small area behind closed doors, which lead onto the main area which had seating and was a much larger. There was another hall which was off to one side which had a variety of food and would be opened after the wedding was over, for general socializing and schmoozing. There were also a number of bigger dishes which were to be brought out in an impressive display.

But that was all to come.

The first few guests started to trickle in shortly, Byakuya and Hisana being some of the first to arrive. It wasn't long before the other noble guests arrived: Shunsui, Ukitake and Yoruichi respectively. Yoruichi had also managed to wrangle Soi-fon into coming, the retainer had been very hesitant even after receiving the invitation.

She wasn't happy with Ichigo as a whole, the idea that she'd eventually be in a family that served under a man who(in her eyes) had all the grace and nobility of an orange bulldog. Which was why Yoruichi had made it her job to slowly try and change the Captain's mind. She held no illusions as to how much influence over her old Lieutenant; it was obvious that Soi-fon still idolized her even after everything that had happened.

Maybe she'd be able to ween her off...herself in the process. As much as she cared for her, Soi-fon could be rather smothering despite the best intentions. If anything, Soi-fon reminded her of the restrictions of nobility, a living, breathing reminder of that.

Right now she couldn't complain; after all both of them were dressed up as far as possible for this kind of even – Soi-fon herself looking rather uncomfortable in the extravagant Kimono. Her family were far more utilitarian so all this excess...it was hard for the head of the second squad to get used to this kind of restrictive dress.

"You look all dressed up, Byakuya-bo." Yoruichi greeted, taking a seat on the other side of the clan head."

"Greetings, Shihouin, Soi-fon. It's only proper for such an occasion." He sniffed, not overjoyed to see his childhood...tormentor.

"Nice to meet you too, Hisana." Yoruichi continued, finding a small amount of joy in the nobles cold expression. If he wasn't irritated by her then all that teasing years ago would be for naught.

Hisana smiled brightly and bowed her head slightly. "It's nice to see you again. You must come around again sometime, you have so many interesting stories about Byakuya."

The ex-Captain chuckled at the way Byakuya stiffened in response. "I'm sure that we'll have time to talk at length about the old days, but today's for the kids I guess."

"Indeed, the grow so fast don't they." A new voice said from behind the group.

Hisana turned to see the two elder Captains behind them, but dressed up far more elegantly than they would usually be. Shunsui was even lacking his traditional hat, his hair instead tired back with a few trinkets. Their clothes were far less expensive than the two in front of them, the lesser families only having so much income to play with after all. Still they were hardly shabby, they wouldn't have been allowed on the premise if that were true.

"Kurosaki has certainly surpassed our expectations." Byuakuya agreed with Ukitake, quite glad that the boy wasn't here to hear him say that.

"Rukia too, she's progressed so far in such a short period of time. I would never have thought I'd see her reach bankai – no offence to her of course." Ukitaki smiled, honestly amazed by his old Lieutenant's progress.

Bankai was no mean feat. It was not something which Shinigami were expected to archive, despite the surprising amount of Lieutenants who had come forward with a bankai. Normally they were spread over a larger period of time, every hundred years or so maybe. To have so many spring up so quickly, not to mention Ichigo with his ludicrous power curve, it was rather convenient given the massive amount of Captains they had lost during the winter war.

Whist he knew Rukia was strong he'd never imagined she'd reach the lofty heights of bankai, if anyone had potential it would have been Kaien. But, well, he'd never had the time sadly.

"You're all amazingly powerful, it's a bit scary." Hisana said sheepishly.

Shunsui smiled and leant back into his seat. "Well I guess it's a good thing that we're all here to protect souls without our advantages. I'm sure Ichigo would agree."

Hisana nodded in agreement, then frowned. "Speaking of Ichigo, I've never had the honour of meeting his family. What are they like?"

Cue most of the Captains present looking away. The ones who remembered were well aware of how the older Kurosaki acted, it was hard to describe him in a positive light. He had many good qualities, but they tended to only reveal themselves in moments of great crisis. His everyday behavior could be described as...lacking in shame.

Byakuya could also remember the young Captain of the 10th squad...all he could say was that he would prefer to spend lunch with the younger Kurosaki. At least he had some semblance of respect and understood that some times there were things which shouldn't be done. His father had never had any of those things and he highly doubted that age would have helped matters. Isshin was perhaps the person he was least excited to see at this event – not that he was every particularly excited to see anything. That word carried far too many boorish connotations.

Incidence excitable would be a prime word to describe Isshin as.

Unfortunately none of them had a chance to prepare Hisana before the door to the hall slid open, revealing Isshin, Urahara, Nel and co.

The group entered quietly, shock and awe quite evident on some of the humans faces. Most of them had the good common decency not to outright stare at their surroundings. That alone made them better than Isshin in the Kuchiki head's books. They were seated on the second group of seats over to the right – whilst they would have time to mingle later it was better that everyone simply sat with who they knew for now.

Hisana barely had a chance to look at the group before the candles which were providing light to the room dimmed as covers were placed over them, signalling the start of the procession.

The audience waited in silence, the screen doors in front of them slid open in the soft light to give them a glimpse into the room in which the actual bonding would take place. The room was bare, save for a single, low, wooden table behind which an old woman sat.

It was then that another light brightened the darkness as the door behind them was opened to make way for the bride and groom. All in attendance turned to gaze at the exquisitely clothed and decorated couple. Make-up, hair and accessories were all tailored to match, every aspect of their appearance adding to the overall look of nobility. For they did look noble, even Ichigo's hair had been coaxed into a more flat and subtle version of its usual bouncy neon self.

Whilst Ichigo had reused the kimono he'd been fitted with only a month or so ago for the Sihouin induction; Rukia's was brand new. The immaculate silk had intricate patterns woven into it, a sea of calm blues and oranges which seemed to depict a sunset over a frosted field. The colours traveled the length of her body, until they all faded into a peerless pure white at her shoulders. Her haori too was white, the edges subtly detailed with ever so slightly darker patterns.

An array of silver jewelry finished her ensemble, the most delicate of chains linking from the clasps on her ear to the kenseikan which signaled to the world the nature of this bonding. It was one of nobility.

The pair proceeded down the gap between the seats, not pausing or even glancing to the seated audience. They only stopped once they had reached the entrance to the next room. There Rukia entered alone, leaving Ichigo at the entrance and kneeling on one side of the table.

"Ichigo Shihouin." The old woman said, using the name which was only attached to him during noble events. "You have been judged as a worthy partner to Lady Rukia Kuchiki, with her both her and her brother's consent."

The woman brought a cup with the Kuchiki clan emblem engraved into the ancient wood. "Once you enter these doors the soulbonding ceremony will start and there will be no other chance for you to end the ceremony without shaming your family in the highest manner. Do you wish to tie your family to the Kichiki for an eternity?"

Ichigo bowed lowly and responded in a trained, level tone. "I, Ichigo of the house Shihouin, wish to bond myself to Rukia of the Kuchiki house."

"Then proceed into the room." The old woman answered.

Just like that he rose and entered, the screen door sliding shut behind him and shutting out the rest of those present. They could only sit and wait in silence for the ceremony to finish, for the two houses to be tied to each other for the first time in an age.

* * *

><p>(AN) yeah...so this was going to be the entire wedding but I wrote too much prep again. What can I say I find the whole thing interesting, but the moments before the wedding are far more important than the actual event. As I said in this chapter – a confirmation of love isn't hard, but to acknowledge in your heart that you wish to spend your life with another...that's interesting.

A side note since Tatsuki is in this chapter. She is actually one of my favourite characters in Bleach, it always pains me that Kubo didn't give her more panel time. She's by far one of the closest friends who Ichigo has, look at her devastated she is that Ichigo begins to draw away from them in the Arrancar arc. I would even be tempted to ship it if Rukia wasn't a thing.

Kubo has a habit of making lots of characters then forgetting about them, I can understand that and am guilty if it myself sometimes but stilll...Tatsuki is awesome.

One or two more chapters folks!


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